When Day Fades to Night
by Satashi
Summary: Sakura's family is being mean to her.... After talking to Kero, the group finds out the Evil card is behind it all. Now they must travel to China to find a card powerfull enough to stop a possessed Touya from taking over Tokyo....and maybe even the world.
1. Start

Before hand: This is a joint 'fic by me and my friend SeiyaKou1. It will be posted under both our names (sooner or later). This has major S&S themed story with a healthy dose of action. Not to mention a few jokes thrown in for your amusement. Seiya and me came up with this idea while snacking on Pizza one day after school. We discussed it in depth and decided to turn the idea into a Fanfic of great length. Since I (Satashi) have more experience in writing, I am going to write all of this, but SeiyaKou1 gets credit for helping me out all the way through this with story ideas and helpful suggestions. There is no way I could of written this without his insight, knowledge, and great ideas. I hope you enjoy this. 

~~**~~ 

I lay awake in my bed once again. I don't know why I do this to myself. It's her. Always her. The ever so sweet Cherry Blossom. The one that controls my mind every waking hour. I long for her. Just once I want to hold her in my arms and know that it'll all work out. But that won't happen, it never does. I'm just to scared. A sigh comes from my lips and I roll over on my bed, getting even more tangled in the sheets. Tomorrow was another day. That is all I have. Maybe tomorrow it will work out okay. After all, we were getting closer by the day. Maybe she liked me too? My head jerked to the window when a slight noise catches my attention. Only one person would come to me this late. 

"Sakura." 

When Day Fades to Night   
By:   
** Satashi**

Sakura hummed a light song to herself as she stirred the rice. She loved to cook, most sixteen- year-old girls did. Well, her friends liked to cook, but they all insisted that she was the best. 

"Kajuu..." 

Sakura stiffened slightly. It had been a while since she had last heard that name. Oh well, Yukito must be away for a while. Touya got kind of depressed when they couldn't hang out. "Konichiwa, Ni-chan." She greeted him as he looked over her shoulder. 

"What is this slop?" He asked, sniffing. "Smells horrible." 

Oh. That hurt. "Ni-chan!" Sakura looked up at him and almost shrunk back by his look. He was almost glaring at her. 

"You can't cook anyway. Might as well not even try." 

Sakura visibly looked hurt. "But...but.... I am making your favorite..." 

"This slop?" 

Tears came to the young girl's eyes. With a small sniffle she turned and walked away. Touya scoffed and cut off the stove and threw it in the sink. By now she had already left to her room. 

With a sob, Sakura burst into her room and slammed the door loudly behind her. Kero looked up from his game with a surprised look. Tears were streaming down her face and she sniffed constantly. Before he could ask, Sakura chocked on her tears and jumped onto her bed and cried into her pillow. 

~**~ 

Touya was cooking himself dinner when his father came in. Fujitaka smiled to himself and walked into the kitchen. "Cooking for Sakura-san tonight, Touya-san?" 

Touya humped. "No. I'm cooking for me." 

Fujitaka blinked at the sound of his voice. "Are you okay?" 

"Fine." He still hasn't turned to address his father. "Sakura is in her room." 

He could take a hint. With a sigh Fujitaka turned and left his son to himself. Sakura would answer his questions on why he was so mad tonight. When he got to her room he knocked twice and called out to her. "Sakura-san? May I come in?" No answer. Two more knocks and another call followed. "Sakura-san?" 

Her door was unlocked so he turned the knob and peaked in. When he didn't see anybody, he opened the door all the way and skimmed the room. Her window was slightly open and a note was left on the dresser. Quickly he ran over to it and read it. 

'Otousan,   
Gone to Tomoyo's to stay the night. 

-Sakura' 

Fujitaka closed his eyes and took in a breath. He would have to have a talk with Touya and his mood swings. 

~**~ 

Syaoran paced his room. "So that's why you're here so late." He thought aloud, looking at his ceiling. 

"Un." Sakura nodded, sitting on his bed with the covers pulled over her legs for warmth. "Sorry to bother you so late. I know you must be tired from Soccer practice and all." 

Syaoran shook his head. "Not really. I was just laying in bed, not really trying to get to sleep." He paused. "But still, if you were cooking dinner, why are you here now?" 

Sakura looked away. "I went for a walk." 

"Long walk." 

"I went to Tomoyo-chan's house, too." She explained, now following him with her eyes as he paced the room. "She won't be there until later tonight, so I thought I would come see you.... do you want me to leave?" 

"Not really." Syaoran said almost immediately. A quick blush painted his face and he turned around. "I mean, I'm here for you.... If you ever want to talk..." His blush got darker when Sakura got out of his bed and hugged him from behind. 

"You so cool, Syaoran." She teased and poked him in his side. 

"Yeah..Uh....Want something to drink?" He pulled away in fear of a nosebleed. "How about some hot chocolate? It's still kinda cold outside at night." 

"That would be nice." She smiled at his back. "As long as you put some marshmallows in it." 

Syaoran chuckled. "You sure have matured." He felt her stick her tongue out at him and he laughed. 

~**~ 

"You don't have to do this." Sakura told Syaoran as they walked from his door and into the apartment hallway. "I can walk on my own." 

"Not this late at night you can't." He answered easily, checking to make sure the door was indeed locked. As an after thought he pulled a key from his key ring and handed it to Sakura. "Here...uh..." He looked away and blushed. "This way you won't have to come through my window..." 

Sakura blinked at the key and took it with a small blush on her face as well. "I still might every now and then, at night." 

'_At night...._' Syaoran shook his head to clear it. "Feel free..... Come on... Let's get you home.... or at least to your girlfriend's house." 

Sakura smacked his arm playfully. "Don't even start with that, or I'll spread rumors about how you used to like Yukito...." She smiled and Syaoran panicked. 

"Hey! I was confused at the time, okay!? How was I supposed to know he was Yue?" 

Sakura giggled. "Okay, no jokes on either of our parts, deal?" 

A nod. "All right." 

~**~ 

Sakura walked close to Syaoran as they went down the street. Their arms brushed each other's at every step and her hand was rubbing next to his on purpose. This, of course, drove Syaoran crazy. After the first few minuets of walking, he slightly turned his hand and caught hers halfway. Kind of a silent question. Sakura answered by turning her hand also so their fingertips brushed each other's. Not really holding hands, but not really _not _either. Both blushed and chose to look away from each other. This was as far as they could go without drawing back, afraid the other would let go. 

~**~ 

Syaoran waited from Tomoyo's gate. He held a card in his hand and watched Sakura at the door until Tomoyo came out. Looks like she was home now. With a single word Syaoran activated the card and wings appeared at his shoes. He leapt from the fence, ran a few steps, hopped, and jumped when he landed. The force shot him into the air and he landed onto the house and jumped again, this time leaning forward at a low angle. He got home this way, housetop after housetop. When the young boy landed on his balcony, he unlocked it and slid the glass door open. Only then did he draw the pink card from his pocket and whisper into it. 

"Arigato for the power, Sakura." The card slowly disappeared from his hand and he knew that she had heard his words. 

~*A few days later*~ 

Sakura skated to school slowly. She had spent the last few nights at Tomoyo's house. Last night was the first night that week that she had gone home. Touya was still being mean to her. She had tried to talk to him, but his glare scared her. Already a bad feeling was creeping into her heart. Tomoyo had to leave suddenly for the next few days. That meant she had to stay home, which meant that Touya would be mean to her again. Yukito had even stopped coming by. Maybe Yue felt something was wrong, too. A sudden sigh came from her lips and she closed her eyes. A few moments later she ran into something. This something, however, held her, keeping her from falling. 

"G-gomen nas--" She stared into the brown eyes of Syaoran, who was still holding her. His face changed to a small teasing smile right before he spoke to her. 

"Most people look where they are skating." He said cooly, helping her to stand without slipping. 

"Then why did you let me run into you?" She asked, teasing back. She was aware of the small hint of blush coming to her cheeks, but she could always blame that on her makeup. 

"Just felt like saying 'hi' I guess." Syaoran responded just before turning his skateboard and starting to skate away, slowly at first so she could catch up to him. "How is you home life?" He asks, looking sideways at her just as he brought his foot up and rode his board. 

"Sucks." She replied, looking down almost. "Ni-chan is really mad at me for some reason.." 

"He knows about the cards?" 

"...not that I'm aware of." 

"Maybe he found out you was going behind his back all these years, and is mad because he was worried?" 

"....." Sakura let the thought run over in her head. "No, he's not like that. Besides, he still doesn't know about Kero. He knows something is different about Yukito, but doesn't think into it." 

"Hm..." Syaoran brought his hand to his chin and absent mindedly propelled his board faster to keep an even pace with Sakura. "Well, we got all the Clow cards, changed them to Sakura cards, and even stopped Eriol from being evil....although I think he still is...." 

"Syaoran!" 

Syaoran chuckled. "Anyway, is there any other thing that could affect him?" 

Sakura thought about that as well. Syaoran was having one of those intelligent days it seemed. Not really a rare thing, but he usually teased her more than anything else. Not like he liked her or anything... '_Not like he ever will..._' She thought sadly. 

"I'll talk to him." Syaoran stated firmly. "I don't like seeing you frown." 

Sakura smiled brightly at him. She knew how much they hated each other. "Arigato!" Maybe he didn't dislike her after all. This made Sakura smile the rest of the day. 

~**~ 

Syaoran Stood at the Kinomoto's house, he could feel that Touya was inside. With a leap he jumped the fence and landed with a soft thump. Slowly he walked toward the door, but stopped halfway there when Touya came outside. 

"What do you want?" He demanded, face stern. 

"Why are you being mean to Sakura?" 

"None of your business." 

Syaoran frowned. "She is staying at my house tonight. She won't be home." He hoped Touya would call his lie. 

"Like I care?" 

Okay. Something was _definitely_ wrong here. 

Touya stepped forward and brought up his fist. "Leave." 

Syaoran frowned. '_Yes..... Something is really wrong here.... I'll fight you later, Touya._' Syaoran turned and started to walk away, but had to jump to avoid a kick. '_Oh.... It's on now_.' 

~**~ 

"You think they'll fight?" Sakura asked quietly to Eriol. 

Eriol smirked. "No. They are more mature than that, Sakura-san." 

"You think so?" 

Eriol nodded and placed some tea in front of her. "Positive." 

~*Syaoran's P.O.V.*~ 

I jump to avoid a kick to my back. It was low to attack when someone's back was turned. Even lower when that person was leaving. I had promised Sakura I wouldn't fight. Looks like I had to break that promise now. 

I lash out with my right foot as I fly, but he ducks and sweep kicks. Quickly I adjust my landing so he misses. When my hands touch grass, I spin my lower body in a handstand roundhouse. Touya pulls back, but throws his foot out. It connects to my exposed stomach and I literally fly into the air a good three inches before falling to the ground. I forgot his reach was farther than most people's. 

When I stand, I feel my stomach throb in pain. There was no way he could hurt me that bad, but still, I was having trouble breathing. Touya wastes no time in attacking again. He punches at me several times, and I dodge most of them. Somewhere in the exchange I charge in and land three punches to his stomach. He grunts in pain, but manages to grab my hair and ram his fist straight into my face. 

I could feel blood run from my nose as I am sent screaming backwards into a tree. I grunt at the impact, but am still conscious. When I open my eyes, I gasp. He was at least three feet away from me. There was no way that punch sent my flying this far, yet when I look at the ground, there was drag marked from my feet connecting to the ground. 

"Oh _shit_." 

Touya charges me and I leapt into the tree, screaming out to Sakura silently. 

~**~ 

Sakura suddenly sits up, spilling her tea. "Syaoran!" 

Eriol looks calmly up at her and offers her a calming smile. "What is it, Sakura-san?" 

"He's asking for a card!" She looks at Eriol with a panicked face. 

"I feel something is wrong, send him the card, but let him handel the battle. It will be okay." 

Sakura hesitates, but when she looked at Eriol's calm face she relaxes a little. If Eriol said it would be okay, then it must. Hell, he of all people would know. '_Still.... why would he want the Power card...?_' 

~*Syaoran*~ 

I feel the card materialize into my hand and I smile grimly. I just hoped I don't hurt him permanently. "Card of power, hear my plea. Help me defeat my foe by strengthening me." The card glows for a second, then disappears. I feel the power flow into my body and I jump down, behind Touya. "Touya!" He turns and faces me. "Back down now!" 

"Not until I kill you..." 

"So be it." 

He rushes at me and I catch his hand easily, the power also increases my speed and agility in a fight. Touya's eyes widen for a split second and I start to feel my hand burn. I quickly release his hand and he attacks again, harder and faster. I can't remember exactly what happened next. The world became a blur of punches and kicks. My hits were parried or blocked. His were dodged or knocked away. We must have been like this for five minuets before I broke it off by jumping back, breathing hard. Even with the rush of power I was starting to feel drained by using so much of my power. It was then that I realized something. Something I _should_ have realized a long time ago. 

Touya had an aura. 

It was black, and swaying easily. I couldn't quite see it, it was more of a feel. Like when I thought about Sakura. I could _feel_ her aura. It _felt_ pink. She once told me mine was green and Kero's was a golden brown. Yukito's aura was a slight silver. But Touya.... I_ never _felt him have an aura. Something was really messed up now. 

"You seem scared." He calls to me, not advancing. 

"I am." I lie. It was true, I felt a little nervous. But scared.... no. Not scared. Just worried. I run now. He gives chase a little bit, but backs down when I jump from his yard. I had to talk to Sakura before I fought anymore. 

Touya glared at Syaoran as he ran. "He knows." He said to no one in particular. Deep down he could feel something screaming to get out, but it was quickly pushed down. Now was not the time to worry about it. He would have to work fast. 

~**~ 

Sakura flew through the air with tears in her eyes. It was around midnight, but she couldn't stay home anymore. Not like this. Her father had yelled at her ever since she got home, blaming her for every little thing that went wrong. _Everything_. Fujitaka was never like this. Not once could she remember a time where she had been yelled at. And Touya.... Touya had just gotten worse. 

Sakura's mouth twitched lightly at the sight of Syaoran star gazing from his balcony. Slowly she descended to him and greeted him with a smile. She had wiped her eyes free of tears just before landing. 

The small wings faded from her back and she looked at him. "Out so late?" 

Syaoran hugged her. "What's wrong? You've been crying." He could always tell when she was hurt. 

Sakura tries to hold back her feelings, but finds that she can't with his sympathy smothering her. Without warning she clings to his chest and cries into it. Several half-muttered sentences are said between sobs. Syaoran shushes her lightly and rubs her back in small circles. 

"Calm down... shhhhhh... It's okay.... Calm down and breath before trying to talk...." He whispers to her softly, but soon realizes that she has been hurt quite bad emotionally. Without thinking, he lifts her up and slides one hand under her legs and leaves the other behind her back. He caries her into his room and sets the crying girl onto his bed. She still clings to his chest and cries. Because of the awkward position they fall over onto the bed and lay down. She clutches him still, but breaths heavily, trying to calm down. 

A few minuets pass and Sakura got her breath back, but tears still came from her eyes every now and then. She spoke into his chest, too afraid to look up. "Otousan... " She sniffled. "Yelled at me..." another breath. "Hard...Loud... Constantly..." She started to lose it again. "He said...he said... that he wished I was never born.." She clutched him tight. "And ni-" she hiccuped. "Ni- chan agreed!" She hiccuped again and started to cry anew, muttering again. 

Syaoran glared angrily across the room. He should have talked to her after he found out what he did today, but for some reason after seeing her smiling face, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He started to rub her back again and whisper into her ear. Three minuets passed before her sobs subside and another two before her hiccups went away. Now she just lay there, hugging him tightly while sniffing every now and then. 

"G-gomen.." She whispered after a while. Before he could respond she slowly lifted her head up and looked at him. "For crying on you... you're all wet now." 

Syaoran shrugged and let her go when she pulled away. "Easily solved." He told her before walking to his closet and pulling out two shirts. He handed one to Sakura and changed into the other behind her back. A few moments later some house pants landed on her head, covering it. "Go take a bath." Syaoran told her gently. "It'll loosen you up." 

"You don't mind?" 

"Of course not." He pulled her up when she could see again. "Come on." He gently took her hand and led her into his bathroom and started the water for her, setting it just right. "There. Towels and stuff are in that cabinet. I don't have the kind of shampoo you usually use so you'll have to use mine. Hope you don't mind..-" 

"Spring Breeze." 

Syaoran blinked. "Uh...yeah... that kind." He glanced at the bottle and saw it was facing the other way. How did she know what kind....? Sakura looked down and Syaoran decided to leave. "I'll be around somewhere." He said gently before leaving. 

~**~ 

Syaoran awoke slowly the next morning. Lazily he stretched out and rolled over...... right onto the floor. He landed with a hard thump and grimaced at the slight pain. Slowly he sat up and rubbed his head. With his free hand, he took off the blanket from around him and moved his pillow. 

'_Wait a minuet....'_ He thought before observing the cover and pillow. '_I don't remember...._' 

"You awake?" Sakura asks as she leaned over on the couch. A small giggle came from her lips. "I see you are." 

Syaoran blinked. "You could have woken me up last night." He pulled himself up. "Thanks for the cover..." 

"You looked to cute to wake up. I slept on your bed...... hope you don't mind?" 

Syaoran blushed and looked away. "No...not at all." 

"Sorry about last night." Sakura's voice was now serious, and a little sad. 

"Don't worry. That is why I'm here." He offered a smile, in which she returned. '_I'll cook her breakfast before I call Kero over here. I'll explain then_.' 

~**~ 

"So you left after seeing the aura?" Kero asked, making sure he was getting all of this. "Sounds like he was possed or something. There is no way in hell Touya could knock the brat around like that." 

"I'll take that as a compliment." Syaoran sneered. 

They were at his house. Syaoran had just finished telling them his story and was currently letting it all sink in. 

"This maybe a slight problem then..." 

Sakura turned to Kero. "What do you mean, Kero-chan?" 

"Well..." He floated over to her and stood on Syaoran's table. " How could Touya get possed?" He walked around a little bit. "I mean.... We all know he has some magical powers. He can see the dead for cryin' out loud! Not to mention he stares at me whenever he walks in your room, Sakura. Frankly I'm surprised he ain't figured me out jus' yet." 

"So," Syaoran began. "Is there anything you know of?" 

"...Yeah...." Kero looked down. 

"What!?" Sakura demanded, looking down at him. "I have to do something! Even Otousan is acting mean now!" 

"Calm down." Syaoran stated lightly. "We need to listen before we get jumpy." Sakura gave him a look, but softened when he returned her bad look with an encouraging one. 

"The Evil card..." 

"Card?" Syaoran asked, now walking over to him. "What do you mean 'Card'?" 

Kero paced. "There are a couple of cards that are not in the book of Clow Cards." He started a little slowly. "That means that there are still Clow Cards out there. Cards that are not meant to be kept in a book." 

"But I already fought Yue for the title of Card Mistress!" Sakura whined. "Kero-chan, your not making any sense!" 

Syaoran was now pacing as well. "Cards.... not meant to be in the book....there better be a damn good reason for this." 

"Syaoran!" Sakura scolded. "Watch your mouth." 

Syaoran looked away, slightly red. "Hai." 

"Anyway..." Kero continued, eying Syaoran "As I was saying.... Clow made two extra cards after completing the book. A Card of Holy energy and a Card of Evil energy. The Holy card and The Evil card" 

"The two legendary cards." Syaoran stated just then. "I've been told about them." 

Kero nodded. "The Li's were given the Holy card to protect. The Evil card was sealed away. It can't work unless it is inside someone." 

"So you mean...Evil is inside Oni-chan and Otousan?" 

"Possible." Kero stated seriously. "I can't sense these two cards because I was summoned before they were made." 

"Aren't you helpful?" 

"Stuff it, brat." Each glared at each other for a while before Sakura cut them off. 

"So basically all we have to do is find the Holy card and use it to get rid of Evil?" 

"I'm not sure." Kero confessed, taking back to his pacing. "All I know is that there are such cards. I don't know exactly what they do. Evil posses and Holy stops it. I guess Holy is some attack card that will fight Evil." 

"Okay." Syaoran said, taking out his Lasin board. "Let's find it." A few chants came form him and the board glowed a second before shooting light out in every direction. "Damn." 

Sakura kicked Syaoran lightly as he passed her. "Language." 

"Gomen." He replied, not really paying attention. "I can't find them either." 

"Looks like you're pretty much useless." Kero said, smirking at Syaoran. 

"Na-_ni!?_" The boy slammed his hands on the table and glared at Kero. 

"Wait." Each turned to Sakura. "If the Li's were given the card, then shouldn't Syaoran have it?" 

Syaoran shook his head. "No." 

"Then your family should." She finished, giving him a smile. "All we have to do is pick it up." 

Syaoran got at what she was getting to. "Ah, I see." 

"What? What!?" 

Syaoran looked at Kero. "I'm going home." 

"Eh?" 

~**~ 

"You sure you want to do this?" Syaoran asks again as they boarded the plane. 

"Hai." Sakura nodded seriously. "I don't want to go home when I can't help my family. I feel really bad...Besides, you so nicely offered to buy my ticket." Sakura had a short flashback of her hugging his knees, begging to come along. 

Syaoran sighed and picked up her suitcase and slid it above their seats. "It's an eight-hour flight to Hong Kong from here." He picked up another suitcase and slid it up as well, followed by a third, and a small fourth. "Damn, how much you bring?" He winced at a slight slap on his shoulder. "Gomen." 

Sakura giggled. "I'll help you break that habit soon enough." 

"It's not a habit." Syaoran insisted as he found a place for his one single suitcase. "It just slips out." 

"Uh-huh." Sakura sat down in the seat and laughed. "Three times since we left home isn't just a slip." 

"Shut up. At least I got us a flight, didn't I?" 

Sakura yawned. "Yeah, a midnight flight to Hong Kong. Thanks a lot." 

"Geeze." Syaoran sat next to her, he had a window seat. Although he couldn't see anything but black with lights of the airport outside. 

"Wake me when we get there." Sakura said sleepily as she turned in her seat. 

"Can't sleep until we take off." Syaoran informed her lazily. This earned him a groan. 

~**~ 

Sakura yawned to herself. She had gotten two hours worth, if not less, sleep on the plane. '_Stupid storm_' She thought to herself as she sat next to Syaoran, half holding his hand like they did a few weeks ago. They were riding on a Taxi. 

"We'll be there soon." He encouraged. "Just give it a few more minuets." 

And that she did. Just like he had promised, they arrived at a huge house. Sakura gasped at the size of it, but Syaoran just laughed. "That's the servant's house." He said smugly. "I live over there." He pointed to what looked like a castle. 

"Wow...." 

~**~ 

(A/N: Everything everyone says is Chinese, except for Sakura, who can't speak it very well. Although she can catch the basic jiff of what's going on, Syaoran will always speak to Sakura in Japanese. Also I have not seen any movies yet, so I don't know Syaoran's sister's names nor his mother's name.) 

Two guards stopped the travelers at the door to the....house. Each held a spear, and crossed them when they got close. 

"Halt." One stated, face stern. "Who are you?" 

Syaoran smiled proudly. "I am Syaoran Li, future head of the Li clan." The guards looked at each other, back at Syaoran, then back to each other. Then they laughed. "Hey!" Syaoran started to get mad. 

"Hehehe...Sorry...hehe.... You're..._who_?" 

"Syaoran Li!" The guards laughed harder, one even bending over to slap his knee. Anger built on Syaoran's otherwise cool face. " I _don't _see what's so funny!" 

"Sy-Syaoran Li is in Japan!" One guard managed to get out between laughs. "And besides.." He chuckled again. "There is no way Syaoran Li, future head of the Li clan, would be seen with-" He chuckled again. "Such a _peasant_ girl!" 

The guard's laugh was suddenly cut off when Syaoran's sword was pressed against his neck. The guard was backed into the wall and was now sweating very hard. "I. Am. Syaoran. Li." Syaoran said each world slowly so the guard could understand "I have had a long trip, and I'm very tired. Is that clear?" He pressed the blade closer to his neck. "And for your information, that _peasant girl_ is very dear to me. Understand?" 

"Syaoran.." Sakura began slowly, but stopped when the second guard blew a rather loud whistle. 

"Shit." Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand and kicked open the door. 

~**~ 

"Sy-Syaoran!" Sakura said, gasping for air. "Why not just stop and explain!?" 

Syaoran pulled her behind a pillar as several guards ran past. "Yeah, like they will listen. Very few guards saw me when I was little, now that I have been gone for six years, you think they will just bow to a kid who threatened them?" 

"Syaoraaannnnnn....." 

Syaoran shushed her. "I messed up, so sue me." He flashed her his mischief smile. "Let's get to my mother and it'll all work out." 

"Why are you smiling like that?" 

"Oh, no reason.... Say... can I use a card?" 

~**~ 

"YeeeeeeeeHaaaawwww!" Syaoran rooted loudly as he flew through the castle. He beat his wings and smiled brightly. He always did want to make a big entrance when he came back. He had even managed to get his angel wings out without ripping his shirt to shreds, a fact that he was quite proud of. 

"Syaoran!" Sakura squealed from her place against his chest. She was being held around her waist by both his arms and she was looking down at the ground while her back was pressed against him. "This is crazy!" 

"I want to make an entrance." Syaoran said smugly as he flipped around and broke through another door. So far thirty guards were chasing them. "Besides, We'd get thrown in prison if they caught us now." 

"You're_ crazy!_" 

"You bet!" Syaoran broke through a familiar door and came into a large room. Instantly he beat his wings a few more times and dodged several spears thrown at him. With a laugh he flew over them and landed, setting Sakura down. Before the guards could turn, he flipped a card into the air. "Windy!" He thrust up his magical sword and the pink card glowed brightly as the wind spirit came out and blew the guards from the room, as well as closing the door. 

Suddenly a collective gasp rang out in the room and Syaoran turned, addressing his mother and four sisters with a big smile on his face. "Tadanama!" 

Sakura took in a good breath and called back her card. Next time she would make him answer when he wanted a card. 

"Syaoran!?" 

Sakura turned and almost leapt back when four girls came and hugged her friend. Questions shot at him one after another. This continued until another woman stood up. 

"Enough!" 

Instantly all five people dropped into a respectful kneel. Bending over, however, made Syaoran's wings spread out behind him, showing off his ten feet wing span. 

"Syaoran..." The woman sighed. "Come give your mother a hug!" 

Syaoran beat his wings and literally flew into her arms, even lifting her up with his embrace. "I'm home, mother." He stated happily. 

Sakura blinked several times. She was about to ask a question, but the guards broke into the room just then and surrounded her before she could utter a single word. 

"Let her go!" Syaoran yelled frantically, setting his mother down and flying over to Sakura. Before he got there, a net was thrown over him and he was ripped from the air. "Aaahh!" 

"Let go of my son and his girlfriend this_ instant_!" Syaoran's mother yelled loudly. 

The guards blinked several times, but let them go. Each kneeled in respect and uttered apologies. 

"Do you not know my brother when you see him?" One girl in the room asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I bet anything he stated who he was when he got here!" Two guards stared to stammer at that comment, but all were sent away, to be delt with later. 

"Syaoran, I thought you would make a civilized entrance." Another girl said as they helped him out of the net. 

Syaoran flexed his wings out when the net was removed and he floated up, only to drop when Sakura called the Fly card back. He landed with a loud thump and Sakura laughed as he rubbed his butt. "Ittteeee...." He glared at Sakura. "_Tell _me before you _do_ that!" 

Sakura stuck her tongue out. "Serves you right for putting me through that, and not even introducing me to your family!" 

"Oops." Syaoran put his hand behind his head and blushed lightly with a chuckle. His shirt felt loose around him now with two large holes i nhte back. 

"I'm Ashley." One girl said before running over to Sakura. "You must be some kind of angel! Syaoran rarely did anything but frown when he was here!" 

"Yeah!" Another girl agreed, running over to Sakura as well. "He was always so mad!" 

"Heather!" Syaoran cried out. "Don't tell her that!" 

The other two girls ran over to Sakura and chatted with her, making Sakura rather nervous. 

"Let them have their fun." His mother said calmly, walking over to him and placing her hands on his shoulders. "You've grown so much!" 

"Yeah, well.." Syaoran blushed and grinned at the same time. "It happens." His mother hugged him again. 

"You're finally back. After six long years... You even control Cards now..." 

Syaoran stammered slightly. "Well...um.... that is..." 

Everyone immediately looked at him. 

"Let me introduce you...." He pointed at Sakura. "This is Sakura..." He coughed. "The, um, Card Mistress." 

~**~ 

"Syaaaaaooorrrrrraaaaaannnnnnn!" Me-ling burst into Syaoran's room and instantly hugged him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back!?" 

Syaoran hugged her back and spun her around. "I wanted it to be a surprise." He let her go, but she still hung onto him. "I, uh, can't breathe." 

"Silly. I don't care right now." She hugged him tighter. "You never called, you never wrote..." 

Syaoran sighed. "I was busy." He explained, getting slightly irritated at her refusal to let go. "I thought about you--" 

"You thought about me?" She looked up happily. "Oh, Syaoran, I'm so happy!" She hugged his neck now. 

"Gah! That's _not_ what I _meant_!" He pleaded loudly. 

~**~ 

"So why did you suddenly decide to come back?" Syaoran's mother asked as they ate. They were sitting at a long table. His mother sat at the head. To her left sat Syaoran, Sakura, and Me-ling. To his Mother's right and in front of Syaoran sat Ashley. To her right sat Heather, Jessica, and Samantha. Finally at the other side of the table sat Melinda. 

Syaoran looked deep into the wine he was holding. Silently he swirled it around in the glass and didn't answer. Everyone at the table remained silent, waiting for a reply. He tried to give it to them a minuet later. "I...." He closed his mouth and again stared into the glass. "I.... there is..." Again he couldn't find the words. Finally Sakura came to his aid. 

"We are on a quest to find a Card." She smiled at Syaoran when he gave her a grateful look. 

"...Oh...." His mother said sadly. "Are you not... Staying?" 

Syaoran looked back into his glass again before drinking it all in a few gulps. The alcohol didn't help him the way he thought it would, and he still found himself thinking straight. ".........I don't know." 

Sakura closed her eyes. She was hoping for a definite no. 

"What about you, Sakura?" His mother asked, changing the subject. "How long have you and Syaoran been together?" 

This made Syaoran look up and pour himself another glass and down it just as fast as the first. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, mimicking what Syaoran had done moments earlier. 

Syaoran's sisters blinked at this and gave them both a look. Syaoran was now on his third glass, waiting for Syaoran to answer. 

"We...Ah... that is..." 

Thump. 

Everyone turned to stare at Syaoran, who was passed out, empty glass next to him. His mother sighed and stood. Walking over to him, she checked his pulse. A little too slow for her liking. "I shouldn't have given him wine...." 

Everyone, including Sakura, laughed at this. Syaoran even hiccuped in his unconscious state. 

~**~ 

"Syaoran.... Are you okay?" 

Syaoran groaned as he sat up. "Ugh....... What happened?" 

Sakura giggled. "You passed out. Drank too much wine when you had nothing in your stomach." 

"Remind me never to do that again." He said woozily. "I feel like shit." Sakura popped him on his head. "Itttee... Gomen, _gomen!_" He held his head with both hands. 

"Anyway." Sakura began as she took the wet cloth and placed it in the small bowl of water. "Your mother planned a ball tonight, to celebrate you coming back." 

"A ball?" Syaoran almost yelled. "_When!?_" 

Sakura checked her watch. "Three hours." She handed him some medicine. "Your hangover will be gone by then. A good thing you have such a low tolerance or you would have drunk more." 

"Yeah.... hey!" 

Sakura giggled and got off his bed. "Well I'm off. Your Sisters want to talk to me." 

"Don't believe anything they say!" Syaoran whined. "They'll tell you all sorts of lies!" 

"Oh, I'm sure your just paranoid." 

~**~ 

Sakura couldn't stop from laughing. "He..." She gasped for air. "Wet the bed till he was _six!?_" 

"Yeah!" Ashley confirmed, laughing as well. This only made Sakura laugh harder. 

"That isn't anything!" Jessica butted in. "He once passed out after one glass of campaign at Christmas!" 

"Really!?" Sakura breathed out, trying to steady herself from laughing fits. 

"Yeah!" Jessica took a steading breath. "Just picked up the glass." She imitated him. "Took a sip." She brought the glass to her lips. "And fell back before he could set the glass down!" 

"Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" 

~**~ 

"Ah-choo!" Syaoran sneezed rather loudly. "They're talking about me! I just know it!" He paced around the room, ignoring the people in it. "I _told_ her not to listen. But does Sakura _ever_ listen to me? Of course not, Syaoran, you know that..." He grabbed his head. "Ggggrrrrr!!!! Your _talking_ to yourself again, Syaoran! You think I don't know that!? Oh great! Now I'm_ answering _myself as well!" 

The servants in his room slowly made their way out, scared of the young boy. 

~**~ 

"Hoooeeeeee......I didn't think I would be in the ball!" Sakura whined as one of Syaoran's three sisters, Jessica, helped her get dressed. 

"Hoe?" 

Sakura half smiled, half frowned. " Just ignore that word." 

"...okay." 

Luckily Jessica knew Japanese. That was one of the reasons she was helping out Sakura. The other reason was that she was also the best in prying out information, and the four sisters couldn't resist a chance to tease Syaoran. 

"So how did you meet Syaoran?" She asks as she looked through the many dresses she had. 

"We...uh... kinda had a fight at the beginning. He wanted my cards." 

"Sounds like him. He was raised to be a warrior. I bet he was confused to see a girl collecting cards?" 

"Oh yeah." 

"I bet he gets really embarrassed around people he likes, huh?" 

Sakura let an image of Syaoran running away from Yukito enter her mind and she laughed. "Yeah, you could say that." 

Jessica held out a pink dress. "What do you think?" 

Sakura smiled brightly when she saw it. It was pink, and had puffy shoulder sleeves. She could tell it would be tight around her chest and stomach, but it flailed out at her waist into a dress. "Hyaaannn..." 

"Hyan?" 

Sakura blushed. "Ignore that word, to." 

Jessica shrugged. "Okay... I think you'll look lovely in this." 

"You think so?" 

"Uh-huh. Syaoran won't be able to keep his hands off you." She smiled mischievously at her. 

"I..Uh.." Sakura blushed bright red. 

"Well, he_ is _your boyfriend, right?" 

"N-no." 

"Well it's obvious. He likes you." She patted Sakura on the head. "You saw him drink when he had to answer that question today." 

"Y-you think so?" 

"Positive." Jessica held the dress in front of Sakura. "He is probably just to shy to ask you out." 

"I don't think he likes me.... I'm too scared..." 

"Oh, you poor thing." Jessica hugged Sakura gently. "You're worrying over nothing. Tonight it will all change." 

"Why do you say that?" 

'_Because Me-ling will freak out when Syaoran chooses you instead of her for the opening dance. And that means she'll confront him tonight, and he'll have no choice but to say what he feels._' Of course she didn't say that out loud. It was more like: "I just have a feeling." 

"Oh..." 

"Seems like we wear the same size." 

Sakura looked at the dress and blushed lightly. "Guess so." 

"It's so hard to catch guys' attention without much 'help' isn't it?" 

Sakura's blush grew redder. "I..." 

Jessica poked her cheeks. " Don't tell anybody but I think Syaoran has a thing for girls like us." 

"Really!?" 

Jessica nodded and both broke out laughing. 

~**~ 

"Ah-choo!" Syaoran looked at the cloths in front of him. "Oh no... They must be dressing Sakura..." He threw his head back at the knowledge of everything she would tell her. "_Dammiiiittttt_!!!!!" 

~**~ 

Syaoran stood stiffly as he searched the crowd of people for his Cherry Blossom. Unconsciously he pulled at his collar. He was wearing a brownish gold dress shirt that covered most his neck and split off from there in an inverted 'V' shape and went down his sides. The part that wasn't covered was a dark yellowish gold. His long sleeves were red and the ends of his shirt were actually cuffs that folded back, revealing a matching pearly white with a golden brown ring that circled the end of the cuff. He also wore matching pants and even his boots complimented his outfit. He looked like a prince from some fairytale. 

The lights suddenly dimmed and a spotlight hit his mother. '_Damn_' Syaoran cursed mentally. ' _It's starting..._' 

"May I have your attention please?" His mother's voice rang from the speakers cleanly. "I would like to welcome you to this dance in honor of my son returning." Another spotlight hit him, causing him to sweat. "The first dance will be between my son and the girl of his choosing." 

Syaoran swallowed hard. He forgot this ritual. It was said the girl he danced with tonight would be the one he married. He slowly took a step and, Lord help him, all the girls ran to line up so he would see them. 

He took a deep breath and started to walk steadily, looking for the one he wanted to dance with. The spotlight followed him as he walked through the girls, searching frantically. Then he saw Me- ling and walked over to her. Just as he thought, his Cherry Blossom was out of the way, almost hiding. 

' _They'll yell at me if I don't choose her_.' His mind told him. '_She'll be hurt if I don't dance with her._' He continued toward Me-ling. ' _She'll probably cry..._' He closed his eyes for a second. He was almost at her. ' _I don't care._' He answered himself. '_I love her.'_ Me-ling's face saddened as Syaoran passed her. Sakura's eyes went wide as he offered her hand when the spotlight hit both of them. 

"Kinomoto Sakura.... May I have this dance?" He held out his hand and bowed like a prince. 

"I... I don't know any Chinese dances." She stammered, blushing. 

A slow song started to play and Syaoran made eye contact. "I'd rather dance with you than anyone else." He face was turning red now. 

Sakura slowly lifted her hand and placed it in his outstretched one. Instantly everyone pulled away from them. 

Syaoran took Sakura's other hand and felt his face get darker with his blush. Sakura found that she was glad Jessica did her make-up. She was sure it covered most of her blush. She soon found herself moved slowly with the guidance of Syaoran. He moved slower than usual, and repeated the same thing three times before Sakura got it down perfectly. He then switched to another step, which she learned as he lead. Halfway through the song they were dancing like the song was made just for them. Somewhere along the way they found themselves drawn close. So close in fact that Sakura's head was resting on his shoulder and his hands left hers and were placed on her waist. 

The song ended and applause rang out through the large room. Sakura and Syaoran slowly slid apart, but still held together at their waist, each looking in an opposite direction, blushing like crazy. 

"Thanks for the dance." Sakura said politely, finally making eye contact with him. 

"Thank you, Sakura..." 

She smiled up at him and took his hand and squeezed it. "We will have to do it again." 

"You bet." 

~**~ 

Syaoran danced a fast song with Me-ling next. They held hands, much to Syaoran's displeasure, and even had a circle form around them with people cheering them on. 

Sakura was talking to Jessica again. They had become good friends since she had arrived at Hong Kong. She was fussing over the dance and encouraging them to do it again. Sakura was blushing like crazy and trying to find something to say, but froze when a hand touched her shoulder. 

"May I have a dance?" Sakura turned to see a tall good looking man with blonde hair cut just right. He had sparkling blue eyes and was dressed in a black and red tux. He smiled, his teeth shining. 

"I..uh...." She looked over at Syaoran, who was being pulled away by one of his sisters. Slow music was playing. Sakura, being the overly nice person she was, answered positively. "Okay." 

She let herself be led to the dance floor, but shot Jessica a regretful look, which she returned. 

Sakura mentally frowned as the man place his hands on her hips and started to sway to the music, much to close for her liking. She, however, let it slide and began to dance with him. He pulled her closer as they danced on and whispered in her ear. 

"So what are you doing after the dance?" 

Sakura was tempted to say something about being with Syaoran, the future head of the clan, but decided not to. "Nothing really." 

"How about coming over to my place?" 

Sakura was starting to get a bad feeling. "I'd rather not." 

"Oh come on." He slid his hands to her butt and squeezed gently. "I have money." 

"Let me go." Sakura tried to pull away, but found he was too strong. 

"I saw how you held onto the 'prince'. You know you want some." 

"Let me go!" She said a little louder, but found his hands going to all the wrong spots. "I said-" 

Pow! 

Syaoran landed from his flying punch just in front of Sakura. His face held rage like she had never seen before and his right hand had blood on it. The music stopped and everyone looked at the man whom he had just hit. Blood was coming from his nose and mouth, not to mention he was on the floor. 

"You...you... Basterd!" The man leapt up at Syaoran, but missed. Syaoran grabbed the man by his collar and jerked him around, bringing his fist into his gut. The man doubled over, but was forced back up by an uppercut. 

Syaoran's face was deathly angry. Without a word he held out his hand and his sword appeared. He raised it to strike, but stopped when Sakura grabbed his hands. "Syaoran..." She whispered to him quietly, scared. "Stop... he's hurt enough..." 

The man who was attacked wasn't moving. A few medics checked his pulse and neck. "His neck is fractured and his nose is broken, as well as a few ribs and maybe internal bleeding." 

"Rodger." The other medic signaled and some men took him away. 

Sakura held onto Syaoran as the man was pulled away. His sisters came over to Sakura and asked questions if she was okay and such. Syaoran looked at his hand silently and walked over to clean it off. 

He let the cool water run over his hand and thought back to what happened. He had seen Sakura dance with someone else, and had moved his dancing partner over to get closer. He had stopped dancing when he saw the guys hands touch her. He began to walk at first but later ran when Sakura tried to pull away. He never felt that mad before. 

Syaoran was vaigly aware of someone stepping next to him. It was his mother. He looked over to her and then back at his hand, which still had water running over it. After a few moments he took it from the flow of water and dried it off. Without even thinking he walked over to Sakura and hugged her. 

"I'll walk you to your room if you like?" 

Sakura hugged him back. "I would like that." She let him take her hand in his and lead her away. 

"He say anything?" Heather asked her mother as she watched him move away. 

"No." 

"Oh..."   
  
~**~ 

Sakura let Syaoran follow her into her room. She sat down on her bed and looked at her knees. "You can go back. The dance is for you after all." 

"I can't." Syaoran said, not sure of how his voice sounded. 

"Thanks." 

"For what?" 

"Helping me out." 

"I had to." 

She looked at him. "Why?" 

"Because I..... I..." He looked down. "I just had to, okay?" 

"Thanks anyway." 

"Anytime." 

A slow silence passed over them. 

"Are we leaving tomorrow?" 

"Hai. I'll probably have morning practice and then we will ask of the card. Once we get it, we can rush home and fight the other card." 

"Okay..." 

Syaoran walked over to Sakura and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "It's okay. Everything will work out." 

"...Hai....." She looked up at him sadly. "Can I please have some privacy? I think I'm going to take a bath." 

"...Sure." Syaoran helped her up and walked to the door. "I'll be down the hall if you need anything...anything at all." 

"Okay... Thank you, Syaoran." 

'_I love you, Sakura... Goodnight._' "Goodnight, Sakura." He closed the door behind him and leaned against it. '_Coward_.' 

~*hours later*~ 

Syaoran angrily swings his sword down and spins, swinging again. His face is set hard and determined. Mei-ling was sitting on his bed, watching him. He had taken off his shirt a few minuets ago, and now used it as a towel when he started to sweat to much. Syaoran had been doing this for an hour now, not letting up in the least. 

"Syaoran...." 

"Yes?" He really didn't pay attention. 

"Your not going to stay with me, are you?" 

Syaoran stopped this time and looked over at her. "What do you mean?" 

"Aren't you going to marry me?" 

"You still think that?" He asks softly. "I--" 

"You promised me!" She yells, tears coming to her eyes. "Syaoran.... I've waited for you for so long.." 

"Mei-ling..." 

"You promised me!" She shouts again, starting to cry. "You said that you would marry me!" 

"I was ten, Mei-ling!" Syaoran shouted back. "I was, what, _seven_ when I made that promise the first time? And I didn't even really agree to it!" 

"A promise is a promise!" 

"You said that until I found someone I loved more than you I would marry you!" 

"And you have to keep that promise!" 

" I can't!" 

"And just why not!?" 

"Because I love _Sakura_, dammit!" Syaoran froze. He just said it. To Mei-ling of all people. 

"Is...Is that true?" Her voice was sad now, on the brink of new tears. 

Syaoran turned away slowly. "Please leave." 

"Syaoran...." 

"Please." His voice was soft. 

Mei-ling slowly got from his bed and opened the door. With a soft sigh she closed it behind her and looked up, just catching the end of Sakura's cloths turn the corner. Did she hear? 

~**~ 

Syaoran stood out on his balcony and stared at the stars in the sky. With a small sigh he leaps onto the railing and then onto the top of the house and jumps a few more times so he is sitting on the roof. The young boy sits quietly and picks up his acoustic guitar. Slowly a tune plays from it and he sings out in Japanese. A song he had written for his cherry blossom. 

"If you were to be the wind... then I'd be the endless sky above.   
When the sad sound o' rain... roots me to where I stand. I give my guitar a strum...   
...and let it carry my heart away. 

"Come on Sakura, try and get the feelin'.   
You don't have to... understand it right away.   
Come on Sakura! I'll lay it on the line for you!   
I'll keep on... fighting to protect you! My soul for you! 

"If you should ever lose your way... let a smile light the darkness for you.   
All to take away your sadness, I will keep on singing until...   
...my voice dies away. 

"Come on Sakura. Oh, please try to believe.   
Believe that I... will never ever change.   
Come on Sakura, Like the sun could do... I'll give you light, for all of you! My soul for you!" 

He hit the remaining cords and repeated the first chorus with tears in his eyes. Halfway though his repeat he had to stop and lower his head into his hands and cry, repeating the word 'coward' over and over again. 

~**~ 

Sakura lay awake in her bed, looking at the ceiling in her room. ' _He didn't mean that..._' She told herself as she turned over and buried her head into her pillow. ' _He was only saying it to get rid of Mei-ling... that's all, don't kid yourself_.' 

She had heard him play, but couldn't quite make out the words to his song. It had lulled her to sleep, though. That night she had dreams filled with Syaoran and whispers of love. 

~**~ 

Syaoran sat up in his bed and threw the covers off him before yawning. Lazily he went through his morning routine and walked out into the courtyard. Six years may have passed, but he still remembered what he used to do every morning. 

~*Syaoran*~ 

I hold my sword in my right hand, just slightly above my shoulder. The blade points downward slightly and I leave my fingertip a few inches away from the tip to guide my strikes. My opponent fights in a similar stance. When our advisor drops his hands we charge at each other. My opponent was way to slow, however, and I literally had to pull my swing in fear of decapitating him. Funny, this guy was supposed to be the strongest man in the clan.... Has fighting cards really made me that powerful? 

"Match won by Syaoran Li." the instructor said, pleased. 

I start to smile, but a bad feeling grips at me before it could reach my face. I roll to my right and avoid a bolt of lightning. Several more bolts follow me, but I remain just a split second in front of them. When they stop I look up into the air and see a solid black humanoid figure drop from the sky. 

The shadow being looks at me with burning red eyes. The red is the only different color I can see. It was challenging me. 

"Protect the 'prince'!" one man yells and several people slide in front of me. I hated the code name 'prince', but I hated somebody interrupting my fights even more. 

The shadow attacks before I can say anything and five people drop to the ground. Quickly I chant and swing my sword down, blasting the shadow with an invisible wind. I didn't use that move too much. 

My opponent seemed hardly fazed by my attack. It neatly slid back, almost riding the wind, and slid to a stop. A frown sets my face determined. Sakura was still asleep so that meant I would have to ask the card itself if I could use it's power. 

"Jump." I say, running forward and leaping into the air. I clear five feet at max before I start to descend. "Dammit." Looks like Jump didn't like me to much. 

Quickly I turn sideways, letting the shadow's sword Peirce my shirt. I drop my elbow down behind the Shadow's head and crack it's shoulders and neck. A normal human would of been killed instantly, but I remember that this is an evil beast I'm fighting so I also bring my leg up to it's gut and grab it's neck as it is forced up by my blow. I place my hand a the shadow's mouth and try another card. 

"Watery!" Nothing. I feel my breath leave me. The shadow had punched me. 

We both jump apart and take a short breather. After a few second I hold my sword up and call out my attack. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu,.... Ryu Tsui Sen!" I run forward at lightning speed and jump straight up at the last second. The ground leaves me and I feel the force of my jump. Soon I turn and look downward so I am falling headfirst. My body spins in a circle and I hold my sword vertical for the maximum blast when I strike. 

Our swords make a clashing sound and it is soon followed by a loud crack and piercing metal. My eyes glaze over when I see my sword. It was half imbedded in the ground and the other half lay a good three feet away from me. 

"Oh no..." 

I feel the shadow kick my chin and I fly backwards and hit the ground hard. By the time I can raise my head up three more guards bite the dust. I can actually feel the steps the shadow was taking toward me, but my body wouldn't move like I told it to. The last attack has temporally paralyzed me. Soon the shadow is above me and it lifts his sword to strike, and it does. 

~**~ 

"Geeze, Syaoran, your making me look bad." 

Syaoran opens his eyes to see a dark navy blue bo in front of his face. The shadow's sword was on the bo, pressing down hard, but did not seem to affect the bo any. Syaoran then looked up at his savior and gasped. "Hiiragizawa !" 

Eriol grinned down at Syaoran before flipping the bo up, spinning it rapidly over his head, and crashing it down on the shadow's skull. Before the shadow could even fall, Eriol spun around and smacked it in the chest, sending it several yards away. The young man flipped his head slightly, sending his long ponytail behind him, and offered Syaoran a helping hand. The sun reflected lightly on his contacts. 

Syaoran pushed Eriol's hand away and got up on his own. "When did you get here!?" 

Eriol gave him an innocent look. "No 'thank you' for helping?" 

Syaoran grabbed his bo and looked at it. The bo had golden tips that radiated energy. "When the hell did you fight with a bo, _huh!?_" 

The innocent smile still played his lips. "Oh, I could always use it, just never did. I had other weapons." 

The chestnut brown haired boy grabbed Eriol by his collar and shook him. "Explain!" 

"Guys, the shadow is getting back up." 

Syaoran turned to Tomoyo and gaped again. "_You're_ here too!?" 

"Face front!" Eriol shouted, blocking an attack. Syaoran spun quickly and threw several wards at the shadow. That seemed to do it. The magical wards instantly caught fire and Eriol pulled back his bo and spun it forcefully, killing the shadow with a clear hit to the head. The beast dissolved into a black smoke before it even hit the ground. 

Syaoran breathed heavily and waited a few moments to catch his breath before yelling at Eriol again, however, when he raised his head to talk, he stared into the lens of a V-8. Tomoyo smiled at him from behind the camera and spoke in her soft way. "Li Syaoran and Hiiragizawa Eriol have just fought their first battle together as friends, and even won!" She turned to Eriol, who was smiling. The bo in his hands shrunk and seemed to form a ring around his right middle finger. 

"He is not my friend." Syaoran said sourly, grabbing his sword from the ground and looking at it angrily. His face saddened when he realized what had happened. The sword's magical energy had just gotten to low... 

"More like a descendant." Eriol corrected, still smiling. 

"Hoooeeeeee!!!" Everyone turned to Sakura. "I just get here and the enemy is already gone!" She looked at Eriol and Tomoyo. "You're here to!" Syaoran face-faulted as the overly excited Sakura hugs Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-chan! I'm glad to see you again!" 

" The girlfriends are reunited." Syaoran whispered to himself wryly. He held his sword in both hands, but soon slid both pieces into the sheath and let it disappear. 

~**~ 

"Well...." Sakura began. "Now that all the excitement is over, can someone fill me in?" They all sat at a table in Syaoran's room. Well, Syaoran was sitting on the window seal, looking outside and Sakura was just sitting below him, resting her head on his leg. 

Eriol nodded and retold his story. 

~~**~~ 

Well, there is my first part of my first CCS cronical story. Like it? I hope so, I wrote really long and hard on this one, spell checked it twice, preread it two times and even grammer checked it! Next part has a _lot_ more action in it. Don't get me wrong, it still will have a ton of S&S and T&E in it as well. I plan this on being 4 chapters long. Since I usally write 7 pages a night, I'm not sure when the next part will be out. I'll post it when it gets 28 pages long...so that's........ 4 days maybe. It may even be posted tomarrow if I have enough time to write.^_^ As always, if this story touched your emotions in any way, please review. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll write. 


	2. Middle

It all started the day I was in my house, watching TV like any normal guy would do. Spinel-sun was flying around, trying to keep Nakuru from giving him a bath. I could feel something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. A memory of Sakura coming over to my house popped in my head and I dwelled on it. Syaoran had asked for a card somewhere in the exchange of pleasantries and I told Sakura not to worry. Now that I think about it, I have been feeling a strange aura around here lately. I may not be able to do extreme magical charms anymore, but I could certainly feel an aura when I wanted to. And this aura wasn't normal. It was evil. I mean, hey, I was the evil one of the story! I had to do something! 

When Day Fades To Night   
By: Satashi   
**Part Two**

~**~ 

Eriol rode to school on his bike, just like every morning that day. His long ponytail was braided halfway, and he let the rest flow in the breeze. He was wearing his smaller framed glasses instead of his usual contacts. He still liked the way his glasses gave him the intelligent look. Nothing out of the ordinary happened then. It was at school when the first thing went wrong. 

~**~ 

Eriol looked around for his favorite playmate/victim when he got in the room, but noticed he wasn't there. Not really paying attention, he sat in his desk and waited for something to happen. Tomoyo walked in by herself that morning and sat in front of him. This gave Eriol slight disappointment. She could at least say 'hi' to him or something. 

~**~ 

Lunch break was when he started to feel something weird. He couldn't sense Sakura or Syaoran's aura. This bothered him greatly. If they had no aura that meant they were either dead or far away. Very, _very _far away. He decided to talk to Tomoyo to confirm this. He found her eating by herself under a shade tree. 

"Miss Tomoyo?" 

Tomoyo looked up at Eriol. "Oh, Eriol-kun. Please, have a seat." She patted the grass beside her and Eriol sat down happily. 

"Nice weather today." He stated calmly, observing the sky. 

"Un. Kinda makes me wish Sakura was here with me." 

"Do you know where they are?" 

"They?" 

Eriol nodded. "Sakura-san and Li-kun." 

Tomoyo shook her head. " I didn't know Li-kun was gone as well. I got a call from Kero-chan today. He wanted to know if Sakura-chan was over at my house." 

"Ah... I feel like something is happening. Let's go to Sakura-san's house after school, okay Miss Tomoyo?" 

Tomoyo nodded and smiled. "You can stop with the pet name now." 

Eriol actually blushed. "Gomen." 

~**~ 

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo called out at the door, knocking. "You home?" 

Touya answered the door and glared at the two teenagers. "What do you two want?" 

Eriol frowned. This guy just radiated evil energy. "Where is Sakura-san?" 

"I don't know, and I could really use that information myself." He glared at them. "Where would they go?" 

"Hong Kong..." 

Eriol gasped and turned to Tomoyo. Her eyes were glazed and she had a spaced out look on her face. "Miss Tomoyo!" He shook her lightly. "Snap out of it!" 

Tomoyo blinked, regaining her senses. "Huh?" 

Eriol grimaced. He made a stupid mistake of forgetting she had no way to block mind reading. 

Touya snarled. "Hong Kong.... The Holy card no doubt." He began to think aloud. "I can't leave here. I need someone to go for me in my place...." He looked at Eriol and grabbed his shirt collar, bringing him up to his face. "You'll do just nicely." 

"Oh, I'm no one you want, really." Eriol said, placing his trademark innocent smile on his face. 

"I'm sure you have more than enough magical power for me to enjoy." Touya pulled back his fist and punched Eriol straight in the face, breaking his glasses and causing blood to come from his nose. 

"Please, I really don't want to fight any more..." Eriol pleaded, regretting he had lost more than half his powers. Another punch to his face made him fall back. "I really don't like fighting. I--" his eyes went wide in shock as Touya lifted up Tomoyo and glared at her. Eriol could practically see the black aura fading into her. 

He snapped. 

"Leave her _alone_!" He roared, clenching his right fist and making a bo staff appear in it. Before Touya could blink, he found the staff smack in his cheek, making him fly into the house and crash against the wall. 

Kero came down just then. "Nani!? What's the racket?!" 

"Kero-chan!" Tomoyo shrieked just as she regained her composer. "Behind!" 

Kero turned, but was still engulfed in a pure black mist. Several screams came from his mouth, but he couldn't fight it off. "To Strong!" He yelled, felling his false form start to lose it. "Go get Sakura! Tell her--" His voice cut off completely. 

Eriol's mouth hung open when he saw Touya. His body was limp, but standing, and a shadowy figure was surrounding it. The shadow's hands held Kero, infusing it with black energy. 

"_Kero-chan!_" 

Eriol set his face determined and grabbed Tomoyo's wrist. "Come on, lets get out of here!" 

"But, but!" 

"No time!" Eriol yelled at her. "Now!" He ran and jumped the fence, pulling Tomoyo behind her. 

~**~ 

"Eriol-kun.... how _could _you....?" 

Eriol paces his house. "Whatever it was could not only '**a**' Make me lose my cool. '**b**' make me draw my staff. '**c**' hurt me. '**d**' Read your mind. '**e**' Possess Touya, but he could also '**f**' take over Kero's body! Isn't that a good reason to run?" He looked over at Tomoyo and softened his voice. Slowly he walked over to her and knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll find out what's going on. Don't worry, we'll find Sakura-san and Li-kun and bring them back here." He closed his fist. "Even if I have to fight again to do it." He smiled at her. "Okay?" 

Tomoyo sniffed and wiped her tears. "O- Okay..." 

Eriol smiled once again and stood up. "Hong Kong.... I'm sure that was the first thing you thought when Touya mentioned Li-kun so that's why you said it." He offered her his hand. "Let's start there."   


~*back to the present*~ 

Sakura sniffed. "Kero-chan...." 

Syaoran place his hand on her head and rubbed it gently. " It'll be okay. Kero is stronger than that. I'm sure he's free of Touya's control already." 

Sakura nodded, but sniffed again."Please don't refer to him as Touya..." 

Syaoran nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. Okay. The Evil card then." 

The door opened just then, revealing Syaoran's mother. "Have you decided what to do?" 

Syaoran slid from his place on the windowsill and stood. "Yes. I need the Holy Card." 

"Holy...." His mother looked confused. "But that card was taken from us several years ago. Don't you think we would have given it to you when you first left?" 

Syaoran restrained himself from face-faulting. "_What!?_" 

"Try the library. You'll find a clue there, won't you?" 

Collective sighs rang from the group and Syaoran placed his head against the wall. "If I read too many words in a row I get sleepy...." 

~*Several hours later*~ 

"This is it!" Eriol stated, slamming the book down onto the table. "Guys, look here." He pointed and began to read aloud, Chinese at first, but soon switched to Japanese when Sakura gave him a pleading look. " A magical card with great powers was taken from the Li family treasure during an attack. The card has been traced to a bandit hideout, but was later lost again in a raid. Sources say it was buried in a tomb along with the old king Radenshi!" 

"All right." Tomoyo said happily, placing two maps down. "This is an old map, and here is a new one." She ran her fingers along them. "Here is the tomb." She pointed to the right map. "Compare it to a new map and...." Her face fell. " It's right under some police building." 

Syaoran hit his head in his hands. "You mean the same building that burned just two nights ago?" He held up an old paper that read 'Old ruins found under Police Department after a fire.' 

Tomoyo sighed. "That would be the one." 

"Fuck!" 

Sakura kicked Syaoran's chair legs, and because he was already leaning back, the force caused him to fall and hit his head rather hard on the floor. 

"Gomen, _GOMEN_!" 

"That's more like it." She said down at him, half angry, half saddened by this new information. 

"Wait, wait, wait, wait...." Eriol stammered, skimming the pages of the newspaper some more. "Check this out." He began to read. "A card was recovered from the ruins, un hurt from the flames. It is now being held at a museum. It will be shipped to England soon ,though." 

"Looks like we gotta work fast." Syaoran said, getting up. "Let's go." 

"Li-kun." Eriol began, giving him an innocent but serious look. "This paper is a few days old. It would of probably been shipped by now." 

"Then we split up." He replied, getting angry at Eriol for giving him such a look. "You and Tomoyo got to England and search. Sakura and I will head to this museum and see what we can find." 

".......that does sound logical." 

"Of course." 

"Save your ego, Li-kun." Tomoyo interrupted with her sweet voice. "You both did great thinking of this." 

Syaoran looked hurt at first, but decided that Tomoyo would never diss him on purpose. "Call if you find anything." 

Tomoyo nodded. "You too." 

"Right." 

The group split up and started to walk away. 

~**~ 

"Are you sure it is safe to split up?" Sakura asks as she watches Syaoran pack his stuff into a bag. They were in his room now, throwing together some stuff that he thought they might need. 

"Positive." Syaoran replied, zipping up his backpack. "It is obvious from the attack this morning that the Evil card is trying to stop us from obtaining the Holy card." He gave her a grin. "The museum we are going to is two days away from here. If it is not there, then Hiiragizawa-kun will have a head start on the Card. If it is there, then Hiiragizawa-kun's flight will throw the Evil card off." 

"In addition you just don't like Eriol-kun." Sakura added, giving him a disapproving look. " He did save your life today." 

"......." Syaoran stood up and set his pack on his back. "Let's go. I still need to see my mother." 

Sakura sighed, but nodded anyway. "Hai, hai." 

~**~ 

"Be careful.." Ashley told Syaoran, giving him a hug. "And take care of Sakura." 

Syaoran blushed lightly, but nodded when he saw that Sakura didn't hear that. 

"Syaoran." The boy turned to his mother and offered her an encouraging smile. "Your sword broke today, didn't it?" His face fell, but his mother stepped forward and took his right hand. She placed a golden bracelet on his wrist and smiled at him. "This is the second Li family treasure. It will protect you." 

The young boy nodded and gave his mother a hug. "I'll be back before you know it. Nothing that card sends at me can stop me." 

"I hope so..." 

~**~ 

"Good-bye." Jessica called to Sakura as she sat on the back of Syaoran's motorcycle. 

"Bye you guys!" She called back happily. 

" Better hang on." Syaoran warned. 

"Oh I'm sure I'll be okay." Syaoran revved his bike and took off. His passenger would have been thrown off, but she grabbed a hold of him just in time to prevent that from happening. "Hoeee... Don't _do_ that!" 

Syaoran chuckled. "I warned you." He felt his hair flap in the breeze. They weren't wearing helmets, but neither really cared. Both knew they could activate the shield card if anything was going to happen. 

Sakura held her arms around Syaoran's waist and turned her hold on him into a hug when she thought she could get away with it. She could always blame it on her first time being on a motorcycle. After a while she felt her cheek rest against his thin shirt and onto his back. She let her hands loosen slightly around him and enjoyed being so close to him. Syaoran, on the other hand, was trying to concentrate on the road instead of the honey-blond girl behind him. 

"It'll be a few hours before we can stop... I wouldn't recommend going to sleep unless you think you won't fall off..." 

"I'll be okay until we stop!" She replied. 

Syaoran winced and chuckled lightly. "I can hear you just fine. You don't have to yell." He turned and gave her a grin. 

"G-gomen!" 

"It's all right." 

They drove a two more hours in silence before Sakura spoke up again. "You think Kero-chan is okay?" 

"Yes, Kero is fine." 

".....What about Oni-chan?" 

"Touya will be fine as soon as we get the Holy card." 

Sakura gripped him slightly tighter. "Arigato... for helping me with all this." 

"Hey..... I'd do anything for you." He whispered softly into the wind. 

"Eh? I couldn't hear you." 

Syaoran shook his head lightly. "Nothing. Forget it.... Hey, wanna stop and get dinner?" 

"Un!" 

"Yosha!" He revved the engine and cut a corner rather sharp. 

~**~ 

Eriol boarded the plane with Tomoyo behind him. When they got to their seats, he let out a sigh and sunk into the chair. "I can't believe I'm doing this." 

Tomoyo sat down next to him and patted his leg. "Because you didn't want me to tell Syaoran about your little prank, that's why." 

Eriol's attitude just brightened. "Ah yes. Removing all of Sakura's underwear from her suitcase was quite fun indeed." 

"Sakura-chan's!?" Tomoyo gasped. "You said Li-kun!" 

Eriol looked out the window. "Oh? Did I?" An evil grin came to his face and Tomoyo started to hit his back, not affecting him in the least. 

~**~ 

"I'm stuffed." Sakura said happily as she laid back in her chair. "I couldn't eat another bite..." 

Syaoran snagged some chicken off her plate with his chopsticks and quickly put it in his mouth. "Good." 

"Hoe!" Sakura sat up and stuffed some more food in her mouth. "I need energy for the road to, you know!" She said between mouthfuls. 

"That is my energy your eating there!" Syaoran protested, grabbing more food. 

"I'm a growing girl!" 

"At this rate you'll bust everywhere but your bust!" That one earned him a face full of rice. Syaoran dropped his chopsticks and let the bowl of rice fall from his face. "Orrrrroooo..." 

~**~ 

"This is our room?" Sakura looked around after dropping her bags at the door. It was a semi small room. A bathroom to the immediate left of the door, enough space to walk in, two beds, a dresser, TV, and a night stand between the beds. A typical hotel room. 

"Hope you don't mind. I don't have that much money." 

Sakura blinked. "Didn't your mother give you a credit card?" 

"Yeah, but I don't want to use it unless I have to." 

"Ah." Sakura sat on the far bed and flipped on the TV. "Hey, Syaoran, your on TV!" 

"Eh?" Syaoran dropped his bags and kicked the door closed behind him. Sakura turned up the volume so they could hear. 

"...The future leader of the Li clan, Syaoran Li, has just arrived home last night." The TV showed a scene of the dance. " A dance was thrown in honor of the 'prince' and during the first song he chose a pretty young lady to dance with.." Scenes of Sakura and Syaoran dancing. "It got quite hot midway though." The couple kept getting closer and closer on the screen. "Sources tell me that Syaoran met the young lady when he went to Japan, and have been dating for three years now." 

"Hoooeeeee!!!???" 

Syaoran hit head on his hand. "Figures...." 

~**~ 

Syaoran watched the comedy channel as he waited for Sakura to get out of the bath. It had only taken him a few minuets to explain that everything he did was usually recorded. Seems as if she understood what it was like to be filmed all the time. 

The water cut off then and he heard Sakura step out of the bath. A small blush came to his face and he shook his head violently to clear out an image that would soon cause a nosebleed. A few moments passed and Sakura stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a long green Tee shirt. 

"Hey...!" 

Sakura closed one eye and stuck her tongue out at him. "I forgot my pajamas so I got one of yours." After that she turned around and rooted through her bag. A few moments passed and she switched to another bag and repeated the same thing. "Hoe... I can't find any of my bras..." 

"Na_ni!?_" Syaoran sat up and looked at her. "I didn't take them! What kind of sicko do you think I am?" 

Sakura shook her head and rummaged through her bags some more, finally coming up with a note. "Sakura-san," She read aloud. "I figure since you and Syaoran would be sleeping together anyway, I'd remove some articles of clothing you won't need." She blinked. "What does he mean 'won't need'?" 

~*Somewhere over the ocean*~ 

"I can't believe you did that..." 

Eriol was still laughing. "I got bored, okay?" 

Tomoyo bit her fingernails. "My little Sakura's innocence is going to be destroyed...." 

"Ah, relax, relax..." Eriol comforted, with a smile still on his face. "Don't you trust him?" 

"Him yes, her...." This earned Tomoyo a questioning look. "Well... she once told me about this dream she had......" 

~**~ 

"Ah-choo." Sakura sniffed at her tiny sneeze. "I wonder if he is laughing at me right now..." 

"Probably..." 

"Oh well... nothing I can do about this now." She sighed and zipped up her bags before turning to Syaoran. "Can we stop somewhere tomorrow?" 

"As long as it isn't Victoria Secret I really don't care." 

Sakura got on his bed and crawled on top of him, smiling playfully. "That's where I want to go." 

Syaoran tried his best to stay calm. Not only was she flirting with him, but since his shirt was a lot larger that she was, he was getting a lot of eye candy. "I...uh..." 

Sakura blinked. She was only teasing him, not trying to confuse him. Slowly she looked down and realized what was making him so nervous. "Ah!" She quickly pulled her shirt up and rolled next to him, facing the wall with a furious blush on her face. "Hentai." 

"It's your fault!" Syaoran protested, facing the other way, face red with embarrassment. "You're the one who got all sexy on me." 

"...... You think I'm sexy?" 

Syaoran gulped. How had he gotten himself in this situation? "I..Uh...." Cough. "Guess so..." The ceiling suddenly held his attention. 

Sakura turned around and smiled at him, pulling his body around so he could see her. "No one has ever told me that before." 

"I would hope not." 

"Oh shut up." Sakura pulled the covers back and slid under them, then pulled them up and looked at Syaoran. "Coming?" 

"Uhhhh......" 

Sakura giggled. "Well you are my 'boyfriend', are you not?" She smiled mischievously at him. "Beside's, my bed is too far away to see the TV just right." 

"..."A smirk came to his face. "I guess everyone else in China thinks we're together, so sure... Why not?" He crawled under the covers, but grabbed the pillows from the other bed before laying down. "Anything you wanna watch?" 

"Don't care." They lay side by side, with a few inches between them. Both enjoyed the other's company. 

~**~ 

"Syaoran....? Syaoran....?" Sakura whispered his name softly in the dark. She didn't get an answer. Slowly she slid from her bed and took a single step before sliding into his bed. He was facing her, but didn't open his eyes. Carefully Sakura slid her arms around him and hugged him loosely. "I had a bad dream, Syaoran..." 

Suddenly she felt his arms wrap around her and she gasped lightly. "What was it about?" He asks her sleepily, still not opening his eyes. 

Sakura took a breath to calm herself before continuing. "We..fought.... You and me." 

"We fight all the time." Syaoran breathed, slowly regaining his senses. "Did we die or something?" 

"No.." Sakura pressed her forehead against his chest, letting the feel of his shirt seep through her hair. "We fought each other. You were possessed by the Evil card." 

Syaoran pulled Sakura close to his body and looked down into her emerald green eyes. "I would never hurt you, silly girl. You mean too much to me." 

"Do you... mean that?" 

"Of course.." He yawned. "Now go to sleep. We are going to get up early." 

"...Hai.." 

~**~ 

Sakura awoke when she felt the warmth leave her. Slowly she reached out for it, but when she couldn't find it she opened her eyes. "Syaoran?" 

Syaoran blinked from his sitting up position. "Sakura?" Each looked at each other for a full half minuet before last night came to their minds. ' _Oh my God! I was too asleep to realize what I was saying!_' 

"Sorry I got in your bed last night..." Sakura slowly sits up. "I can't take scary dreams or stuff like that." She hugged her knees. 

"It's...okay." 

"Syaoran....?" 

"Nani?" 

She looked back down. "Gomen ne." 

"Again?" 

Sakura blushed again, but hid her face in her knees. "Un." 

"No matter." Syaoran slid out of bed. "Let's get outta here, get your cloths, and get going." Syaoran went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and to try to get the dark blush off his face. 

~**~ 

"It was delayed." Eriol stated, looking at the empty glass case in front of them. "So that means Sakura-san and Li-kun will have to fight this battle." 

"Oh, I assure you, you'll fight as well." 

Eriol spun and threw one hand out in front of Tomoyo. His long hair breezed behind him, giving him a rather cool look. Subconsciously Tomoyo found herself recording him. "Who are you!?" 

A medium sized man stepped forward into the light. He had short green hair spiked into a Mohawk. The man brought up his right hand and Eriol glared at the armor on it. The man's knuckles were golden and a golden circle was on the back of his palm. Every joint in his hand had golden armor that seemed to come from the skin. A golden band of armor seemed to cover his bone, because it came from the skin. His elbow also had a golden piece of armor on it. But none of that is what held Eriol's attention. The man's palm had a magic circle on it. 

"That name's Joe." He said, closing his fist. "Touya has given me this armor band specifically for the task of killing you, reincarnation." 

Eriol clenched his fist and his bo staff appeared in his hand. "I don't want to fight." 

"Then you die." 

~*Eriol*~ 

His anme was Joe. I saw it on a nametag. He msut work for the museam now. 

I push Tomoyo out of the way with my left hand and dodge to the right at Joe leaps forward in a punch. I saw an opportunity to kick him, but because I don't know much unarmed combat, I choose rather to bring up my staff and hit him in the face. My blow hits and his head reals back. Black blood comes from his mouth and I frown. This guy was obviously possessed by the Evil card as well. How long would it be before all of Tokyo was taken over? 

Joe lashes out in a kick, which is ducked, and I counted by swinging my staff again. I force my eyes to stay calm when Joe grabs my staff in mid swing with his armored hand. A normal person would freak, but I saw it as a weakness. He went out of his way to use his right hand, which meant the other parts of his body were unguarded. 

I give him an innocent smile. This confuses him and, just as I suspect, he drops his guard for a small second. I use this time to sweep in close and grab his neck. An evil scream comes from my lips and my eyes go red. I send all the power I have left into his neck and only stop when he drowns in his own blood. 

Tomoyo gasps as we both fall to the floor. My eyes drop tiredly, but I force them open again and roll over, not liking blood dripping on me. She helps me up and I lean heavily on her. I was stupid to use what little energy I had left. 

"Let's go..." I say sleepily. "I need to rest." I feel her nod and we start to walk, but a golden shine catches my attention. 

~*Normal*~ 

"Sir." 

Touya looks down from his throne. He has already made Tokyo Tower his home. They were on the observation deck. Touya lowers his head and looks at the speaker. " What is it, Keroberus?" 

Keroberus looked up from a small bow, well it was more of a kneel since he was in his true form. "Eriol has taken the first piece. Sakura is still with Syaoran, and has not gotten hold of the card just yet." 

"Good." Touya smiled evilly, bringing a glass of red whine to his lips. "All is good." 

~**~ 

Ring ring.....ring ring... 

Click. "Moshi moshi?" 

"Sakura-chan!" 

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura pushed the cell phone closer to her ear. "What's wrong?" 

"We were attacked!" 

Syaoran found a place and pulled over, killing the engine. "What's going on?" 

"Are you two okay?" Sakura ask, worried. She saw Syaoran pick up his phone and dial. Sakura let him in on the conversation. Three way calling. 

"We're okay." Tomoyo said, her voice was a little scared. "But I'm kinda shaken up. Eriol-kun has been asleep ever since the fight." 

"Hiiragizawa?" Syaoran interrupted. "What did that idiot do?" 

"He grabbed this guys neck and screamed. I could see something like black electricity come from his hand...I was so scared." 

"It's okay, Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura comforted, giving Syaoran a confused look. Her traveling partner glared into the ground. 

"The card is still in China." Her voice came from the phone. "I aspect you to be attacked, be careful. Tou-.... the Evil card is possessing people to work for him!" 

Sakura was about to say something but Syaoran cut her off. " Tomoyo-san, stay in a hotel until Eriol wakes up and feels he can fight again. Without him you are defenseless. Be careful, okay?" 

"Hai..." 

"..... And tell that idiot I said he did a good job." Syaoran clicked off his phone and started his motorcycle again. 

"Be careful, Tomoyo-chan." 

"You too, Sakura-chan." 

Both hung up and Sakura grabbed Syaoran's waist just in time not to be thrown off. "Hoeeee... what's the rush?" 

"You heard them." He replied, going faster now. "If they were attacked then that means that Touya knows we are split up. That also means that he knows where the card is. If he gets to it before us and destroys the card then we're all screwed." 

Sakura pinched his stomach, getting a 'gerk' from him. "Watch your mouth." 

"Gomen..." 

~**~ 

"This is it." Syaoran stated as he parked his bike. "The card should be in there." 

"Syaoran!" Sakura grabbed his arm and pointed. "They have it!" 

Syaoran grits his teeth. A group of what appeared to be teenagers were running from the museum. An alarm sounded and the group hopped into a convertible. "Damn. Let's go." Sakura gripped his waist and Syaoran started his bike again, peeled out, and began the chase. 

~**~ 

"Syaoran!" 

Syaoran ignored the girl behind him and let his bike scream next to the car. Already several police cars were chasing them, but that was all ignored. The group of kids yelled at him to back off, but Syaoran kept their pace and searched the car. The front passenger had it in his hands. 

Suddenly the car swerved at them and Syaoran had to pull away. "Gah!" A quick turn let Syaoran live another day as he dodged an on coming car. They were on a four-lane, but there was no median. "Damn it..." He moved the car behind them and got on the right side, matching pace again. 

"Syaoran!" 

"Take over." 

"Nani!?" Sakura soon found out what he meant when he hopped onto the seat, and force slide Sakura under him. "I can't drive this!" 

"Learn!" With that, the boy jumped from the bike and landed in the backseat of the car, punching one guy and knocking him out. 

"You're crazy!" the second passenger cried, just before being knocked into dreamland by Syaoran's foot. 

"Pull over!" Syaoran yelled at the driver, but had to back off when the only other passenger slashed a knife at him, cutting his cheek. 

"Get'em Leon!" The driver shouted, trying to drive and watch the fight at the same time. 

Leon smirked and leapt into the back seat and stood up. On the way back he kicked the radio and a hard rock song came on. "You prepared to die, brat?" 

Syaoran returned his smirk with a cocky smile. "You should ask yourself that." 

"Take this!" Leon swung his knife, but Syaoran ducked professionally, caught his balance, and uppercuted Leon, making him fall back, unconscious as well. The card flew from his hand and Syaoran literally dove for it, snatching it with two fingers. This, however, caused him to fly from the car and his the pavement running a good ninety miles per hour under him. 

"No!" Sakura screamed, trying to handel the bike. 

Syaoran's eyes went wide and he instantly brought his hands out to block the oncoming pavement. When he connected with the ground, his bracelet glowed gold and engulfed him in a bright light as he rolled furiously and finally came to a stop a few moments later. 

The car he jumped from lost control then and crashed into the ditch. 

Syaoran breathed out heavily and brought the card to look at it. He smiled to himself and then let himself fall into unconscious. 

~**~ 

"Syaoran! Syaoran! Answer me!" 

Syaoran opened his eyes slowly and pushed some foul smelling thing away from his nose. "Gah...Wha...?" 

The policeman looked at Syaoran and helped him up. "You're lucky to be alive, kid. That was some stunt you pulled." The officer placed a cap on the incense. "What is your name?" 

"Syaoran Li." 

"The future leader of the Li clan!?" 

"Un." He nodded his head slowly and then shook it to clear his mind. His vision then went to his bracelet and a long sigh came from his mouth. "Man.... this thing works after all..." 

Sakura threw herself on him and hugged him tightly. "Syaoran...." She sniffed and let the tears fall. "You idiot! Don't you ever scare me like that again...!" She sniffed again and cried full force on his chest. 

The young boy only nodded and wrapped her in a hug. "Gomen, Sakura-chan.... gomen." She only hugged him tighter. 

~**~ 

"Master..." 

Touya looked at Keroberus. "Yes? You have a report, correct?" 

"Hai..." 

"...And it is?" His voice began to get impatient. 

"The group has failed to capture the Holy Card. It is now in the hands of Sakura and Syaoran." 

"Dammit!" Touya threw his glass across the room, letting it shatter. "How much power do I have to give to a _group_ of people to steal something from mortals!?" 

"The Card Mistress was there as well, sir. She has unimaginable powers. So does the brat, Syaoran." 

"Yes... I see.... Looks like I will have to get a more powerful form if I wish to take them on sooner.... Send Carlos after Eriol." 

"Carlos, sir?" 

Touya glared at the lion with wings. "Did I not make myself clear enough?" 

"Yes, sir." 

~**~ 

rriiinnnnngggg.... 

Click. "Moshi moshi?" 

"Eriol-kun? Are you okay?" Sakura's voice came through clearly over the phone. 

"Un. I'm okay now. How is everything where you are?" 

"We have the card!" 

"Really!?" 

"Un!" 

Sakura heard a few whispers on the phone and Tomoyo's voice came to her next. "Sakura-chan! Daijobu desu ka?" 

"Daijobu desu." She insisted, nodding although she couldn't see her. "Syaoran is asleep, though. He had a hard day.... The bracelet his mother gave him saps his strength like you wouldn't believe." 

"Oh.... So what are we going to do now?" 

"We can't fly to Tokyo." Eriol's voice said, startling Sakura. " That will be too obvious. If Touya, er, the Evil card could take over people and send them after us, I'm sure he has the city pretty much under raps by now. We'll have to land a few cities away and go from there. " 

"Wait.. Syaoran is waking up now. I gotta go. We'll call again when he feels better. Give us about six hours." 

"Hai."   
"Hai." 

They all hung up. 

~**~ 

"Syaoran! Are you okay?" 

Syaoran sat up in the bed and nodded numbly. "Un... I just got tired... that's all." 

Sakura sat down next to him and wrapped the boy in a hug."The police paid for this hotel room, so we can relax for the rest of the day." 

"U-Un..." Syaoran blushed lightly and looked away. "Sakura-chan, It's getting kind of hard to breathe." 

Sakura looked up and loosened her hold a little bit. "'-Chan.' is it?" 

Syaoran blushed more. "Just slipped, Gomen." 

She shook her head on his chest. "Nuh-uh... It's okay.... Can I call you Syao-chan?" 

"Eh!?" 

Sakura looked up dangerously. "I still need to hit you three times for cussing!" 

"Gomen, gomen gomen gomen! Call me whatever!" Sakura smiled happily and Syaoran let out a long sigh. 

"By the way, you were on the news again." 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, the reporter talked kinda fast this time, so I didn't catch all of it. Something of you aiding the police in a car chase." 

"Oh..." Realization hit him. "The card!" 

Sakura held up a pink card. "Already changed it." 

"Sakura-chan... Yosha!" He hugged her tightly and both rolled off the bed, letting out a pained 'oomph!'. "I'm going to treat you to the biggest steak I can find!" 

"Hoe!" 

"Come on," He stood up, grabbed her hand, and led her to the door. "I'm starving!" 

"Hoeee!" 

~**~ 

"Yes, sir. May I help you?" 

Syaoran took in the appearance of the well-dressed waiter in front of him. Maybe it was a mistake to come to such a fancy place. Sakura had on a very pretty dress, but he only had on slacks and a green T-shirt. They went well together, and both their cloths complimented each other, but he still felt a little out of place. Taking a deep breath he answered. "Yes, please. I would like to treat my girlfriend here to dinner here." 

The waiter shot him a look that read 'why would a girl be seen with you' , but lead them to a seat anyway. 

"Girlfriend?" Sakura asks as they followed. 

"Um...yeah.... if you would like?" Syaoran looked away. 

"I.. Think I'd like that." She took his hand and smiled at him. This brought Syaoran's face to look at hers and he returned the smile. He would have to remind himself to thank whatever reported said that on the air not to long ago, or else he wouldn't have said that just now. It was amazing what a slip up can do for your love life. 

"Here you are, Madam." The waiter waved his hand to a nice booth. "And... Sir." He turned his back on Syaoran and handed Sakura a menu. Syaoran frowned, and thought about saying something along the lines of him being the future clan leader of this continent, but bit his tongue. He didn't want to abuse his powers. The waiter stood up straight and said: "I'll be back in a few minuets to get your order. Please enjoy yourselves." 

Syaoran slid into the seat in front of Sakura and frowned again. "That guy is a jerk." 

"Hoe? Why do you say that?" 

Syaoran picked up the menu and skimmed it. "He totally ignored me!" He whispered angrily. "Like I don't deserve to be here! I mean...I maybe a little under dressed, but still...." 

Sakura giggled. "I think your just paranoid." She looked at the menu, then back up at Syaoran. "I suppose there isn't a Japanese translation?" 

Syaoran chocked down his laughter and offered her a smile instead. "Right in front of you." 

~**~ 

"......hehhehe. That's funny, Syao-chan." Sakura giggled through her talking. "I didn't think that Mei-ling would do something like that." 

"Yeah." Syaoran answered, laughing as well. "Just kinda happened." 

"Are you ready to order now, miss?" The waiter asks, speaking directly to Sakura. 

"Uh, Yeah. I'll have a steak, please... Medium rare." 

"Very well then, and to drink?" 

Sakura blinked and turned to Syaoran, who mouthed something in Japanese. "Sweat tea." 

"Very good choice, madam." The waiter turned. "And for you....sir?" 

Syaoran shot the waiter an evil look, but let it slide. " I'll have a twelve-ounce steak, please." 

"Your drink?" 

"Tea. Unsweet." 

The waiter turned to Sakura. "Your meal will be out shortly." He bowed lightly and walked off. 

"I see what you mean..." Sakura said quietly. " He is totally avoiding you..." 

"What a jerk...." 

"Just try to ignore it, okay?" 

Syaoran thought about it for a second, but nodded. "Right..... oh man, I never called Mom!" Syaoran stood up. "I'll be right back, Sakura-chan." 

Sakura smiled sweetly up at him. "Hai." 

Syaoran walked quietly to the outside of the restaurant and dialed his phone. 

~**~ 

"Here are your salads." The waiter said politely as he sat them down. "Oh? Where did your... er, date go?" 

"He had to call someone." Sakura said nervously. 

"Oh. Probably one of his other girlfriends." 

"Edscuse me?" 

"I see his kind all the time. Such a riffraff. You deserve better than that trash." 

"Trash am I?" Syaoran asked angrily as he came into view. "Why, pray tell, am I trash?" 

The waiter seemed to snarl at Syaoran. " I know low level scum when I see it. You wouldn't know what it is like to be upper crust. You just got lucky by tricking such an innocent girl into being one of your girlfriends! You were probably going to take her to a hotel after dinner, weren't you?" 

"Yes, I was." Syaoran said deathly angrily. "For your information we have stayed in a hotel together for a few days now." 

"You're low." 

Syaoran got in his face. "Am I? Perhaps I should show you how a street person fights?" 

"Is their a problem?" 

The waiter and Syaoran turned to face someone dressed in a very nice suit. " Yes, Manager." The waiter said. "As a matter of fact, their is." 

Sakura placed her head in her hand. 

~**~ 

"Let me GO!" Syaoran screamed as three people pushed him out of the restaurant. "I did nothing wrong!" 

"Leave before we call the police." The waiter stated with a cool smirk on his face. Sakura walked out to, but the waiter turned to her. "You may stay, miss. Meal is on the house." 

"Na_ni_!?" 

"Talking a different language won't get you back in." 

"What is going _on_ here!?" A policeman demanded, stepping into the group that has surrounded them. 

Syaoran smiled. "It seems that I am trash. I am to low on the social food chain to eat here." 

The policeman turned to the waiter and manager. "And why is this?" 

"Because this person here," Syaoran pointed to the waiter. " thinks so. When I tried to disagree with him, I got thrown out." 

"That's about it." The waiter said smugly. 

"Okay..." The officer turned to Syaoran. "And just who are you?" 

A smirk came to the young boy's face. "Syaoran.... Syaoran Li. Of the Li clan." Sakura's mouth turned to a slight smile as surprise struck everyone's face. "Would you like some I.D.?" 

~**~ 

"That was sssoooo funny!" Sakura said, laughing, as they eat at a fast food joint. "Did you see their faces when you said whom you were!?" 

Syaoran laughed as well. "Yeah! I could hardly keep a straight face!" He took a few moments to regain his breath and smiled at Sakura. "Thanks for letting me have some fun." 

"Hoe?" 

"I could tell you wanted me to stop, but you let me do it anyway." He bowed his head lightly. "Arigato." 

Sakura smiled sweetly at the boy. "I thought you could use something to relax you. Messing with people is what you usually do." 

A blink. "Doesn't Eriol do that, not me?" 

Sakura pretended to think. "Hm, you both act kind of childish..." 

"O-Oi!" 

"Hahha... Just kidding." She closed her eyes and smiled again. 

A small smirk hit Syaoran's lips. "Oh, very funny. Ha.ha.ha.ha.ha." 

~**~ 

"You feel them, too?" Syaoran asks quietly as they walk down the street, holding hands. 

"Un... What is it?" 

Syaoran shot a quick glance behind him. "I'm not sure... All I know is that I can feel their evil... Two... maybe three in all. To- The Evil card isn't taking us lightly." 

"What should we do?" 

"If we lead them to out hotel, they can attack us anytime they please...." He looked down at her. "But if we ditch them, we can get the first attack in." 

"....Hai." She let go of his hand and both started to run. 

~*Syaoran*~ 

"Oh, this is too easy." I whisper to myself from a random rooftop. My wings were folded behind me, since they were not in use. Sakura herself had come up with this idea. Run into a back ally, spilt up on two different rooftops, and jump down when they ran in the ally. Such a simple plan, yet very effective. She would jump down first, followed by me. I would prefer to go first, but with her using the jump card and me using the fly card, she would be the best choice for a surprise attack. I would just have to wait. 

Two figures ran into the alleyway. I feel a smirk appear on my face. Only two.... this would be kinda easy. Movement catches my eye as Sakura jumps down and lands with a soft thump. She holds up a card and calls out the name. "SHOT!" A very good idea. The bullet of magic flies from the card and hits the first person. I let that be my cue, and I jump down as well, flapping my wings only once. It was really too bad about my shirt. It had ripped off when I grew my wings... oh well, that's life. 

I land slightly louder than Sakura, but I still get in a surprise attack. I use my right foot for the attack and am successful...kind of. My foot goes right through the person and I realize it was a shadow being like I had fought before. Looks like normal attacks wouldn't hurt this one, though. 

Sakura screams in shock as her oponet stands up as well, slightly weaker than mine. She quickly pulls out another card and a sword appears in her hand. Looks like she was going to a direct attack. I suddenly wish I had my sword. 

The bracelet my mother had given me starts to glow at my thoughts. Soon a green ball of energy appears in my hand. As if directed, I close my hand over it and it changes shape. A small gasp comes from my lips. Below my closed fist, just one inch away, was a small ball of energy. Half an inch below that ball was a round line of energy, about 3/4 an inch think and maybe four inches long. On top of my hand, and an inch away, was a long line of energy. It was at least forty-two inches long. A sword of pure energy. My energy. And it was taking a lot of energy to keep the sword there. No wonder this wasn't given to me when I left for Japan, at that power level I probably couldn't even form this weapon, let alone fight with it! 

My attention is quickly turned back to the fight when I am attacked. I block the swing from the shadow's sword and marvel at how his blade was neatly sliced in two pieces by mine. Without wasting any time, I move my sword and thrust it into the shadow's body. The beast lets out a scream of pain, but only stammers back, not dying. A frown forms on my face and I attack several more times, slicing random slivers of shadow from his body and getting a nice coat of black blood on me. 

Out of the corner of my eye I see Sakura swinging her baton. She was glowing pink now. I recognize it as the power card. Lord help that creature when it got hit. Sakura dodges a few attacks nimbly and I smile. She was also using the Fight card. She was getting so strong. She could even mix a max of three cards now. 

I return to my attention to my battle. My oponet was looking rather pissed off. Hell, I didn't blame him. I would be absolutely pissed if I just got stabbed and hacked away at with a power I never knew I had. Suddenly I was getting kinda weak, not to mention my sword was starting to haze in and out of view. Thinking quickly, I yell to Sakura. "Sakura! Give me the Windy card!" 

Sakura nods, dodges an attack, and throws me the card. My original intention was to use a little of Sakura's almost infinite power, but when I grab the card I start to feel as if I can do something else. Sure enough, when I look at my bracelet it was glowing brightly. Deciding fast, I let my instinks take over. 

"Card, do whatever it is you want to." I say, hoping I knew what the heck I was getting myself into. "Bracelet, accept this power." 

The card vanishes and my right hands starts to go numb. A quick image and some words shoot through my mind and I thrust my hand out. "Tornado blast!" A strong wind blows from my hand and I am thrust back, slamming into a wall. My wings scream out in pain. The wind forms a horizontal tornado from my hand and shoots all the way through the alleyway, hitting everything but Sakura. The two shadow creatures and blown from the wind and Sakura lifts up a card to air me. 

"Firey! Show these two shadows the power of light!" With a flick of her wrist, she thrust the card into the wind and hits it with her star wand. The Firey spirit comes out and is instantly wrapped in the wind, turning it into a firestorm. 

When the flames die down, I collapse to my knees and use my hands to support myself in a kneeling position. Small fires burn in random places, but where quickly going out as the magic fades. Police sirens come into my ears and I look up at Sakura. "Lets get out of her." She nods and lifts me up. 

"Float." She says quietly, checking to make sure I was okay. The pink bubble comes over us and we glide into the air and over the city to our hotel. 

~*Normal*~ 

"So tired...." Syaoran whispers, barely audible. "This weapon drains me so much....." 

Sakura closes the hotel door behind her and helps him to the bed. "Are you okay? Two fights so soon...." 

"Well the first one wasn't that hard... Just used too much energy bringing myself from ninety to zero without being crushed...." 

"It's late anyway.... Let's go to sleep, All right?" 

Syaoran nodded, falls back on the pillow and is asleep before Sakura has a chance to change cloths. 

~**~ 

"They should have called by now..." Tomoyo thought aloud to herself as she paced the hotel room. She bit her nails nervously and glanced at her cell phone every few seconds. 

"Relax, Miss Tomoyo." Eriol told her calmly. "I'm sure something just came up." 

"How can you be so darn calm!?" She practically screams in his face. "They could be dead!" 

"I think you need something to calm you down. How about some tea?" Eriol stood. "Yes, I think I'll go get you some tea." 

Tomoyo watched him with a blank face as he calmly grabbed his wallet and walked out of the room. Slowly she walked to her bed and sat down, placing her head in her hands. "They should have called us last night.... Sakura-chan... where are you?" 

Riinnnggg...rrrii- 

Click. "Sakura-chan?" 

"Hai. Gomen ne, I couldn't call last night, We-" 

"Sakura-chan! I was so worried!" 

Syaoran's voice came into the phone now. "Calm down, Tomoyo-san. I wouldn't let anything hurt Sakura-chan." 

Tomoyo blinked and wiped away her tears. In the back ground she could hear Sakura yell something at 'Syao-chan'. All in all, this brought a smile on her face and she forgot she was supposed to be mad at her for not calling. "Sakura-chan, did you just call him 'Syao-chan'?" 

"Kawaii, ne?" 

"Honto ne Kawaii!" 

"Oi!" Syaoran's voice was heard from the background again. "Lay off, okay?" 

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan. Are you and Syaoran together now?" 

"Hai!" Sakura smiled brightly. "He asked me out last night." 

"Oiiii..." 

" I'm so happy for you!" 

"Anyway," Sakura said, waving away Syaoran. "We were attacked again last night. Are you guys okay?" 

Tomoyo blinked. "Eh? We are okay." 

"And Eriol is still with you?" 

"Actually he just went to get me some tea." 

"How long ago?" 

"About...five minuets..." Tomoyo gasped. "Oh no! It shouldn't take him more than three minuets round trip!" 

CRASH! 

"He's fighting!" 

~*Eriol*~ 

Ouch. That one hurt. Slowly I pick myself out from the indention in the wall. I discard my broken glasses with little interest. I never wore them much anyway... wait a minuet, that was my second set this month! Oh, this guy was going to pay. Glasses got expensive lately, even if I did were contacts most of the time. 

I duck an attack and hit him with my left hand, which he blocks with his left. I notice he is wearing the same kind of armor Joe had, but his was on the left hand. Suddenly I feel heat entering my hand and I pull back, thrusting my right hand out in the process. A dark navy blue energy ball rips from my hand and throws my attacker several feet back. 

Slowly I bring my hand to look at it. The golden armor was on my right hand. The magical circle in the middle of my palm was smoking from the energy blast. It felt good. Oh so good, like my powers were restored for a little bit. testingly, I point my right index finger at a chair in the room and move my hand. The chair moves with my finger and I feel a smile play at my lips. That was until I get clocked in the head by my foe. Obviously I need to pay more attention in this fight. 

My attacker raises his hand and sends a rather large ball of red energy toward me, which I block by swatting it away with my armored hand. I call my staff into my right hand and focus energy into it, catching it on magical fire. The shadow being in front of me takes a step back and I charge forward, smacking him hard on the head with the end of my staff and setting him on fire. Without wasting time I push out my right hand and let out a small yell to focus my energy and send another ball of power into him. 

The shadow hits the wall and breaks through it. Not even taking a breath, I rush forward and dive into the hole, bringing my right hand down into where the face should be. A sickening crack greets my fist and I start to breathe as the shadow goes limp. Slowly I pull my fist back and look at it, amazed at what I had just done. I had never been that violent before. Shaking it off, I stand and watch the figure fade away, leaving only the left arm piece. I think a while before reaching out to it. Just as with the right piece, it shoots into my arm and solidifies a second before going away. When my eyes see my right hand, the armor is gone on it as well, but I can feel the power cursing through me. It felt good. 

~*normal*~ 

The elevator doors slide open slowly and Tomoyo runs out. Frantically she searches for Eriol, and finds him a few moments later, staring into his hands. "Eriol-kun!" 

Eriol turns and offers a calm peaceful smile. "Miss Tomoyo." He is startled by a hug. "Something wrong?" 

"I should ask you that." She says into his chest. "Look around you. This room is trashed." 

"Well, I kinda lost it for a second." 

"You okay?" She looks up and into his eyes, making Eriol- yes Eriol- look away in embarrassment. "Your face is red! Are you hurt badly?" 

"N-no..." Eriol looked down at the ground. 'Get a grip on yourself! You're starting to act like Li-kun!' 

"We better get out of here then." 

Eriol looked around the room. "Yeah... Let's get our stuff and try to contact the others." 

Tomoyo nodded. 

~**~ 

"Okay, are we all here?" Sakura asked into the phone. She was still in their hotel room, sitting on the bed. Syaoran laid beside her, letting his phone rest on the pillow on his side. 

"Hai." Tomoyo answered. "Eriol?" 

"Hai. Syaoran?" 

"Hai. Sakura?" 

"Of course I'm here! I spoke first!" 

"Anyway," Syaoran began, sitting up on the bed. " We have the card. The question is: Where do we meet up, and how do we fight this Evil card?" 

"Hhmm..." A long silence passed over the group. 

"Yue!" Sakura suddenly gasped. 

"Nani?" Eriol wanted to pace, but found that he couldn't inside the rental car. 

"Yue. We haven't heard from him since all this began!" 

"That's right! He should know about Kero-chan as well!" Tomoyo said happily into the phone. "With Yue on our side we can't lose!" 

"Does that mean you don't believe in me?" Syaoran asked, pretending to be hurt. 

"Now's not the time for a bruised ego." Eriol said calmly into his phone. "First we get to Japan. Secondly we go to Yue. It is too dangerous to make a call to Japan." 

"Agreed." Sakura nodded. "Where do we meet?" 

"Hiroshima?" 

"Sounds good, Tomoyo-chan." 

"All right. Hiroshima it is. Not too far away, but good enough." Eriol looked out the window. "We'll meet in two days. One day to rest here and book a flight, and the next day we actually meet. Agreed?" 

"Agreed."   
"Hai."   
"Whatever." 

"Li-kun." 

"Hai, hai. Agreed." 

Four people clicked off their phones. 

~~**~~ 

Oh..... only 11 people reviewed this story..... Am I not good at writing long stories? Maybe I should jsut give up on this....?   



	3. End

When Day Fades to Night   
By: Satashi   
** Part three**

"What are we going to do today?" Sakura asked, laying on her bed. 

"Well, I already have plane tickets..." 

"And we can't go back to your home. It's two days away." 

"Hm..." He looked down at the girl laying on the bed and sat beside her head, running his hands absent mindedly through her hair. 

"Mmmmm........" Sakura closed her eyes and enjoyed it. "How about we take a nap?" 

"Nap?" Syaoran checked his watch. "At Eleven in the morning?" 

Sakura sat up and wrapped her hands around his waist. "We just started going together. Don't you think we should kiss at least? A kiss goodnight for a nap?" 

Syaoran started to stammer. "Uh, I, well..." His face went red. "I've uh.... never kissed a girl before..." 

Sakura's face turned a little red as well. "It's not that hard..." She was about to say 'I guess.' but Syaoran cut her off before she could. 

"Been practicing with Tomoyo?" 

"Eh?.....Hey!" She reached back and smacked his across the head with a pillow. "Not funny!" 

Syaoran laughed and caught the pillow on the second swing and rolled on top of her, pinning her hands above her head. "Now what?" 

She smiled up at him. "Don't know.... Never had a guy pin me down before." 

"I never pinned a girl..." 

The two looked at each other nervously. Slowly Syaoran bent down a little and closed his eyes. Sakura followed his lead and closed hers, slightly parting her lips. She could feel his warm breath tickle hers and soon felt his lips finally touch. The kiss didn't last a second, but it was followed by another one, and then another, each getting longer and more passionate than the last. 

After the tenth kiss Syaoran pulled back to catch his breath a little and Sakura opened her eyes, breathing just a little faster than normal. 

"Wow..." She breathed, smiling sweetly at him. "That was nice." She giggled lightly. 

"Yeah.... I could get used to it." 

Sakura pulled her hands from above her and wrapped them around his neck, bringing him back down. "You need more practice." 

Syaoran grinned, face still red. "I think so too." They kissed again. 

~**~ 

rriinnngggg....rriiinnnggggg....rrrriiinnggggg.....rrrriiiinnnggggg....rriiiiiinnnnngggggg... 

Click. "Hai.." Syaoran took in another breath. "Moshi.....moshi?" He tried to control his breathing. 

"Syaoran? Are you okay?" 

"M-Mom!" Syaoran stammered and rolled off of Sakura, letting her sit up and adjust her shirt. "How are you?" 

"I'm fine, are you okay? Your breathing hard!" 

"I...uh..." He looked at Sakura, blushed, and then turned to look at the wall. "I was ...running... yeah, running." 

"Why?" 

"A shadow monster...attacked us. We beat it and ran back here." 

"A shadow attacked at one in the afternoon?" 

"One!?" Syaoran looked at the clock. "Oh man, time flies..." 

"Yeah... well, are you okay?" 

"Fine, yeah. Hey, I'll call you later.... I need to rest." 

"Okay... be sure to call me as soon as you can, okay?" 

"Hai." 

"Love you." 

"Yeah, you too, mom." 

Click. 

Sakura giggled and sat Indian style. "Running?" 

Syaoran tossed the phone across the room and onto his bed. "Well that shattered the mood." 

"But you looked so cute trying to think of something to say." She closed her eyes and smiled. "Why not tell her you was making out for the first time in your life and didn't want to stop?" 

"Hey." His faced did the impossible and turned a shade darker than he already was. "And why do you say that?" 

Sakura opened one eye and stuck her tongue out slightly. "I don't recall pulling my shirt up, Syao-chan..." 

"I..Uh..." He turned away. "Gomen...." 

Slowly he felt arms wrap around him and she whispered in his ear. "I do, however, remember liking it..." She blew softly and licked his earlobe lightly before nibbling on it. She let him enjoy this a few moments before pulling away. "But it is all kind of weird.... All these emotions..." 

Syaoran looked down. "I know.... It was such a rush all of a sudden..." He offered her a smile. "I guess we're still new to this relationship thing." 

"Guess so." They each grinned at the other. 

~**~ 

"Keroberus, what is the status of my mission?" Touya asks, walking his throne room. "They will act soon. I can feel their energy fluctuate." 

"Eriol has obtained both arm pieces, sir." Keroberus said in his deep voice. "He knows that the power in them is great, but I do not think he knows their true function as of yet." 

"And his power?" 

"It is ninety percent returned, sir. However, if he should remove the magic gauntlets from his body then his power will leave him again." 

"They will attack before that." Touya chuckled. "I tire of such a weak body." 

~**~ 

The plane ride was long. They had hit another storm coming back to Japan and Syaoran and Sakura were tired when they left the landed aircraft. The sky was covered in clouds, almost as if the area around Tokyo was being covered, blocking out the sun. Eriol and Tomoyo were waiting for the two at the airport and nodded in their direction when the couple came through the doors. 

"Don't look around." Eriol stated, walking next to them, like they were strangers. "People are looking at us weirdly..." 

Syaoran's eyes glanced around, but he left his head looking straight. Sure enough, quite a lot of people were following them with their eyes. His lips turned to a frown and he looked forward, talking to Eriol, but in a way where no one would know they were friends. "How long has this been going on?" 

"Ever since we landed." He replied, taking Tomoyo's hand to make sure she wouldn't get pulled away from them. Syaoran did the same with Sakura's. "Something is going on...." 

"I'll say." 

The group exited the airport and walked through the town of Hiroshima. The air was thick with an evil feeling, causing all to go on alert. 

"We can't walk to Tokyo." Sakura stated a fact. 

"We can't fly either...." Syaoran breathed, looking at a cat who seemed to be hissing at him. "The use of power would attract ...the Evil card." 

"Then what do we do?" Tomoyo asks, looking around. 

"Take the train." Eriol pointed out. "Look, not everyone has an evil aura. That means that Touya hasn't completely taken over this city yet." 

"Eriol-kun...." 

Eriol set his face firm. "Gomen, Sakura-san. You know what I mean.... Still we have to keep moving." They nodded. 

~**~ 

"You're back." Yue greeted the group as they walked into Syaoran's apartment. 

"Yue-san?" Sakura blinked. "When did you..." 

"I've been here for a few days....If you didn't notice, the entire town is taken over by the influence of evil." 

"You can say that again." Syaoran grumbled, tossing his bag into the corner. "I got so many cold looks I still feel out of it." 

"Yue-san," Tomoyo began. "What is wrong with the sky?" She looked at her watch. "It should still be light outside." 

"It has been like this for several days now." Yue replied, moving the curtain to look out the window. "About when you left we had a huge storm. The sky has been clouded with blackness ever since." He turned to address everybody. "Kero's symbol is the sun, right? Without him....." His voice trailed off. 

"Oh this is just great." Syaoran muttered. "Now we will have to fight the large plushie as well....." 

"You never really got along with him anyway, Li-kun." Eriol said, pointing out the obvious fact. "I don't think you'll hold back, ne?" 

"Whether I hold back or not is up to me, Hiiragizawa-kun." Syaoran replied, laying on the couch. "The point of the matter is that we need to come up with a battle plan. I'm sure Touya knows we are back. Yue's power radiates like a fire with gas thrown on it." 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome." 

Sakura pulled Syaoran's legs up and sat down, placing his legs over her lap. "I don't want to wait longer than we have to..." She said quietly. "Ni-chan.... Otousan.... Both are under the card's control....." A tear fell from her eye and onto Syaoran's legs. 

"Hey, hey..." Syaoran said, moving so he could put his arm around her and give the girl a hug. "It'll all work out okay.... I mean, we have the card that will stop all of this...." He looked into Sakura's eyes and set his face determined. "Let's go right now." 

"What!?"   
"Huh!?"   
"NOW!?" 

Syaoran stood and paced. "Think about it. It's the last thing Touya will suspect! We have the element of surprise!" 

Sakura stood as well. "Right! He's right!" She looked at Eriol and Yue. " What do you say?" 

"........ Why not? We have nothing else to lose...." Yue cracked a half smile, half smirk. "It's my job to protect the card mistress. It's not like I really have a choice, ne?" 

"My oh my...." Eriol stood with the rest. "I guess I can fight right now." 

"Mina...." Sakura breathed out happily. "Arigato!" 

~**~ 

Syaoran pulled up his sock and slid on his shoe, tying it extra tight. When it was securely fastened, he stood and tapped it on the floor for a test. Perfect. His fighting outfit consisted of loose black pants with gold trim and a green dragon design going down his right leg, and a loose fitting green short sleeved shirt with golden trim. His right wrist had the golden bracelet on it. 

Eriol tied the belt around his waist and smiled. He was wearing dark navy blue fighting pants with a matching gi. Both his arms were covered in the golden magical gauntlets and his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that was tightly braided halfway down. He also wore his contacts as well as slip-on fighting shoes. 

Sakura was wearing loose fitting pink fighting pants tied up with a dark pink belt. A matching female pink gi covered her upper body and she wore a very light pink undershirt. Her hair was left in it's usual manner and she didn't wear a hat this time. 

Yue flexed his wings out and made sure he was comfortable in his usual attire. Tomoyo was recording all of them with a smile on her face, despite the grim circumstances around them all. 

Sakura held up her right hand and let her two forefingers come up. "Cards of Clow, now cards under me..." The book of Sakura cards floated up from the desk. "I ask you to lend us all of your power...." the cards came from the book and circled her. "Syaoran....." 

"Hai?" 

Sakura kept her eyes close in deep thought. "Lend Syaoran your power as well as me. If he ask for you, please aid him..." 

".....Arigato, Sakura." 

The cards slowly circled Syaoran and disappeared one by one. When all the cards circled both of them the book closed again and set back down on the desk. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and looked into Syaoran's. 

"We can do this... right?" 

"We have the cards, Sakura." He replied, gently. "We can stop all of this... 

"Let's go." Yue said, opening the window. "We can fly there. He still won't have enough time to prepare anything." 

"Right." 

~**~ 

Sakura landed on a building with a soft thump and Syaoran landed neatly next to her. Both their wings stayed obediently behind them. Yue sat down Tomoyo and landed himself. Eriol gently floated down and touched the top of the building without a sound. 

"How did you get your power back?" Yue asks him, staring at the tower. 

"These bracelets give me my power." Eriol replied nonchalantly. "Just be glad I'm on your side." 

Tomoyo took Eriol's hand and squeezed it gently in hers. "You won't ever do anything evil again, will you?" 

Eriol looked at the tower, eyes unmoving. "..No.... not anymore..." 

~**~ 

"We have guest..." Touya said calmly, standing up. Keroberus walked over to him and nodded. "We should...greet them, don't you think? It would only be polite." 

Keroberus nodded and looked at a building across from the tower. 

~**~ 

A stairways of light slowly appeared at the observation deck and, step by step, made its way to the group. 

"So much for the element of surprise...." Yue said bitterly, but walked to the stairway anyway. 

Syaoran grimaces. "Remind me not to underestimate the card again...." 

"I'll do that." 

~**~ 

"Welcome...." 

"Kero-chan!" Sakura shouted, running forward. Halfway there she was grabbed by Yue, bringing her to the side of a fireball that would have incinerated her. 

"Careful." Yue scolded, setting her down. "He is evil now." 

Sakura looked at Keroberus with sad eyes. The winged lion gave her a nasty look, but addressed the group again. "The master wishes to meet with you. This way, please." He turned and began to walk. 

The Card captor group gave each other an uncertain look and Eriol took the first step to follow. Behind him followed Syaoran, and soon Sakura and Yue as well. Tomoyo was still outside, filming as best she could with a long lense. 

~**~ 

"Hello, little sister." Touya greeted, standing up from his throne. "I have missed you...why not give your brother a hug?" 

Sakura glared up at Touya. He had made the observation deck a sort of throne room, complete with old styled pillars and stairs leading to the throne. "My brother isn't here right now." 

"Such cruel words..." Touya said, bringing a hand to his chest in fake modesty. "No matter," He let his hand drop and began to walk toward them. " I have a proposition for you...." He walked down the steps slowly, one by one. "Join me and have all your desires given to you, or oppose me and die along with the rest of the world?" 

A silence passed over the group. 

"You think we wou--" Sakura started to say, but stopped dead in her tracks when Syaoran took a step forward and kneeled. 

"I'd rather live." He said, head low and one fist on the ground. It was a respectful kneel. 

"Syaoran!" Eriol shouted, getting angry. "You _traitor!?_" 

Syaoran looked up at Eriol with an angry face. " Shut up, Hiiragizawa." His voice was cold. "I never liked you anyway." 

"Syaoran...." Sakura looked at the ground and let a tear drop. 

"Stand up, Syaoran-san." Touya held out his hand. "Prove your loyalty by killing Hiiragizawa- san." 

Syaoran nodded and stood, forming a sword in his hand via his bracelet. Eriol gripped his fist and his bo appeared. The golden gauntlet glowed bright with power and the bo caught fire. 

"Guys!" Sakura yelled, crying. "Don't fight each other!" 

Syaoran let out a yell and attacked. 

~*Syaoran*~ 

I scream and lash in with my attack, slashing downwards at Eriol. The boy expertly catches my attack with his bo and spins around, missing my torso by a mear few inches. While he is momentarily recovering from the fast blow I rush in and hit him several times in the stomach. Eriol grunts, but manages to place his palm against my chest and blast me back with a dark blue blast of energy. 

The attack sends me screaming at Touya, who lets me land at his feet. Sakura yells at me to stop, but I ignore her. This was for the both our goods. 

I lash forward and bring my hands together and slowly pull them apart. "Thunder!" Lightning rips into my hands and I push my palms outwards, only clipping Eriol's left side. He grits in pain, but jumps into the air and throws several blast of magical energy at me. I dodge most of them, but a few hits me. It hurt. A lot. 

"Windy!" I shout, bringing my hand up. The wind in the room changes suddenly and Eriol is forced to land. "Shot!" I point my finger at him and shoot several thin blast of magic at him, which he blocks with his bracelets. He attacks me again, but connects fully in my stomach this time, forcing me to double over. 

"This is it." He says, bringing up the end of the staff to my chin and making me fly back at Touya's feet once again. I feel blood come from my mouth as I cough. 

"To... Strong..." I say pathetically up at Touya, who looks at me with a new trust. 

~*normal*~ 

"Very well then." Touya says cooly. "Anyone else want to join me?" 

"How...how can you be so _damn_ calm!?" Sakura shouts out angrily. Tears were streaming down her face. "You...you.... You're a monster!" 

"That indeed I am!" He replies. 

"Yeah.... a dead one!" Touya turns surprisingly to Syaoran, who blast Touya in the chest with a windy spell. "Eriol! Now!" 

Eriol rushes in and cracks Touya on the side of the head with his staff, knocking him out. "Heh..." Touya's body hits the ground and doesn't move. 

"Ouch...." Syaoran touched his chin. "That hurt, dammit..." 

Eriol scoffed and rubbed his side. "Like those punches didn't...?" 

Each smiled at each other. 

"Wha...what?" Sakura asks, looking confused. 

"Don't you get it?" Yue asks, looking down at the girl. "Couldn't you sense Touya's power when you got close to him? There is no way we could get the evil card out of his body without him being unconscious." He pointed at Syaoran. " Syaoran there took it upon himself to fight so you wouldn't have to." 

" Don't forget me." 

Yue looked over at Eriol. "And Eriol seemed to think he would make things interesting for us..." 

Eriol smiled innocently and kneeled next to Touya. "How do we get the card out?" 

Keroberus made his presence known at that time. With a roar he attacked Eriol and pinned him down. A dark energy shot out of Touya and headed straight for Sakura. 

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled. "Use the card now!" 

Sakura nodded and held up her staff. "HOLY!" 

The Holy card appeared as commanded and formed before Sakura. The Evil card then showed his true form. He was a pure being of nothing but black matter that looked like smoke with red eyes and a mouth full of fangs. 

The Evil card lunged at Sakura, but the Holy card pulled back into the young girl's body, knocking the Evil card away. 

"Nani!?" Yue gasped, shocked. "The Holy card is a defensive spell!" 

"Oh shit." Syaoran whispered. 

"Keroberus." The Evil card said calmly. "Plan one has failed. Go to plan two." 

"Right." Keroberus looked right into Eriol's face and opened his mouth. A second later Eriol's body caught flames and he screamed in pain. 

Eriol thrashed about madly on the floor when Keroberus let him go, screaming loudly and with such a pain filled voice that everyone in the group could almost feel the pain he was going through. 

"Your mine!" Evil screeched, lashing onto Eriol, turning the flames into whisks of pure black energy. 

"No...NOOOO!!!" Eriol thrashed about some more, holding his head. 

"_Hiiragizawa_!" Syaoran shouted, running over to him. "Fight it!" Keroberus blocked his way and snarled at him. 

Suddenly the gauntlets on Eriol's hands started to glow a bright golden color. The young boy's screams reached its peak and a flash of light temporally blinded everyone in the room. When the light fades the group's eyes slowly turn to Eriol. 

Eriol was looking down at his hands with a twisted smirk on his face. 

"Oh no...Eriol-kun...." Sakura's voice caught in her through. 

"Hiiragizawa..... Not even you deserve this...." 

Eriol began to laugh insanely, creating a huge ball of black energy in his hands. "It worked...it worked! He didn't even realize the armor was mine to begin with! Hahahahahaha!" 

Yue held out his hand and a diamond appeared in the palm. "Evil..... Leave the boy, or prepare to fight." 

"You think you can beat me with moon magic?" 

Yue's wings came from behind him and spread to full wing span. "I can try!" 

~*Yue*~ 

I fling several diamond shards at Eriol as I take to the air. I had sensed something wrong with Eriol when I saw him earlier, but couldn't pinpoint the gauntlets. Who would have thought that they would be evil enough to allow the card to posses him..... 

I dodge several blasts of energy, spinning around most and slapping others out of the way. Quickly I thrust out my hands and send several more shards of diamond at my opponent, who ducts behind Syaoran, forcing my attack to stop. 

Syaoran was too preoccupied to attack Eriol's back at the moment, however. The poor boy was fighting off Keroberus while trying not to hurt him too much. 

All I had to do was knock him out and the card would leave.....Either that or kill it in his body. 

"Yuuueeeeee!" Eriol's scream grabs my attention and I avoid more blast. "You're fighting _me_!" more blasts are shot, to which I am hit and sent screaming toward the ground. 

Vaguely I see Keroberus leap over me, followed by several blast of fire from Syaoran. 

"Wind! Become a binding chain!" Sakura hits the card and the wind spirit comes forth, but passes through all of our opponents. 

"Windy won't work!" Syaoran yells, forming his sword again. It was already beginning to flicker. He was almost out of energy. 

"Use power!" I yell, tossing more shards at my foe. 

"Useless!" Eriol retorts, letting them hit him. "I am too powerful for even you, Yue!" 

"_Cheeeee!_" I rush in and use the power of the fight card to go hand to hand with Eriol. I manage to connect several blows in, reinforced by the power card. Eriol doubles over from the blows and coughs up some blood, yet he still manages to grab me and blast me straight through the wall and into the night. 

"Yyyyyaaaaahhhhh!" Eriol leaps out after me, using his power to fly by himself. Quickly I look inside the tower. Sakura was using card after card to help restrain Keroberus and strengthen a very tired Syaoran. 

The night was almost pitch when I could open my eyes from the blast. My wings beat once subconsciously and I am once again ready to fight. 

~*Normal*~ 

Eriol screams out another battle cry as he puts both hands in front of his waist and forces a large black of dark energy to gather and shoot at Yue, who quickly drops out of the line of attack and shifts the wind around Eriol, making him land on a roof top. 

"Eriooolll! Fight it!" Yue lands across from him and form a Basterd sword made of complete diamond. "You're not that weak! Fight it!" 

Eriol seemed to hesitate for a spilt second before yelling out another battle cry and bringing his bo staff into life again. The space between the two vanishes almost instantly and weapons clang together, sending the sounds of battle over the possessed city. Several drops of blood came from cuts and bruised on both sides of the battle. Each combatant's cloths were torn and blood stained from the steady onslaught. 

"Eriol is dead!" He screamed, attacking again and again with his bo. "Only I remain!" 

Yue frowned and got in a position where he could grab Eriol's shoulders and look him directly in the eye. "Eriooolll!" 

Time seemed to stand still for the dark-haired boy as he fought internally with himself. And then, without warning, the reincarnation of Clow Reed screamed and grabbed his head. Eriol frantically stepped back wobbly and shook his head, still screaming for all he was worth. "Noo....no..Get out...get out..ggeettt _OOOUUUUUUTTTTTT!_!!!" 

Dark shadows ripped around Eriol's body as he fought with himself. Eriol continued to step back and scream. Yue's eyes widened slightly when he realized just what was going to happen. Quickly he ran forward, but was too late. Eriol's body fell from the roof top. 

~**~ 

Tomoyo Screamed when Eriol's body landed next to her on the rooftop next to the one Yue had been fighting on. "Eriol? Eriol!!!" 

"Too..Strong....too...strong.... I'm gonna lose....it..." Eriol's body barley moved, despite the pain he felt. "Tomoyo....Please...." Eriol forced his hand to move down to his ankle and pull a knife. "It's...too strong... We can't beat it...When it's..." He swallowed hard. "Out of me, it'll get Yue... Then Syaoran..." He held up the knife with a wobbly hand. "Please..Kill me.... End it now." 

Tomoyo's eyes went wide. "N-no! I can't!" She grabbed his other hand in hers and squeezed it. "Fight it, Eriol.... You can win..." 

"N..No....I can't...." Eriol's eyes closed and he felt the blood running from his body. All the hits he took were starting to get to him. "It's trying to leave me now... Yue won't stand a chance against it..The moon is gone... He is weak after our battle..... I could.. Tell he was using too much power..." Eriol coughed, sending some blood from his mouth. "This is it....your chance to help out... You've always wanted to help fight.." 

"Eriol......Please...." Tears came to her eyes. "Don't make me.... please... fight it.." She lowered her head to his hand clasped in hers. "Please.... You can't die..." 

"He..Hehehe..." Eriol felt the chuckle come from him. A wry, ironic laugh. "So this is how I die..." He felt the card once again try to leave, but he pulled it back into his weak body. "Tomoyo...when the card is out.... it'll kill you before taking over Yue... Please..." He moved his hand and slid the knife into Tomoyo's. "If I die.... I want to know that you're safe... I love you too much to let you be hurt." 

"...Eriol..." Tomoyo squeezed his hand harder. "I love you too....please... not when I just heard you say it... there has to be a way.." 

Shadows ripped up from Eriol's body, but were pulled back into him by a navy blue power. "He's scared... If I die, he will too...Tomoyo... End the pain for me. It's hurts so bad..." 

Eriol's hands slipped away from hers, leaving the blade wrapped in her delicate fingers. "Eriol..." 

"Tomoyo.... I love you.... Please, be happy for my sake too." Eriol let his body relax and waited for the death that would end the screaming pain inside of him. 

"Eriol...." Tomoyo closed her eyes once more. "I love you, too..." The young girl chocked on her tears and forced herself to bring the knife up above her head. She let one more sob wrack her body before bringing it down.... 

~**~ 

"Erioooollllll!!!" 

Syaoran leapt from the tower and wings came from his back. His cloths were torn in several places and blood leaked from him constantly. He landed on the building holding Tomoyo and Eriol and almost fell down at the light impact. The blood stained wings disappeared from his back and he limped over to the crying girl. 

"..Tomoyo?" 

Yue landed on the building as well and walked forward. "I can't feel the card any more..." 

Sakura landed next to them and slid tiredly off of Keroberus. Both looked like they have seen hell. 

The small group fell to a sitting position and breathed heavily. The sky above them was quickly reverting back to a starry night and the negative energy around them was slowly going as well. 

"He...gave his life to save us all....." Syaoran looked at the ground. 

"Eriol-kun......." Sakura bowed her head as well. ".........." 

"Gaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" Eriol's eyes opened then and he took in a sharp gasp of air, managing to pull the knife from his body. 

"_Eriol!_" 

"_Hiiragizawa!?_" 

Eriol moaned and rolled to his side. "Don't... you know where the ...heart is..?" A slow chuckle came from him, making him wince in pain. 

"Eriol...." Tomoyo sniffed several times and let the tears fall freely down her face. "You're..Okay...." 

Syaoran slid next to them and placed his hands on him. "Sky of truth, sky of revealing.... Guide me using thy power of healing...." 

A soft warm yellow light washed over Eriol's body, closing some of the major wounds and even gave a little blood to his system. Syaoran held the spell as long as he could before falling over and panting hard. Keroberus was a hell of a fighter... 

"How.....?" Sakura wondered out loud, wiping her eyes. 

"I guess the card was too weak while inside a mortal body... no matter the power...." 

"Kero just stopped attacking us all of a sudden a few minutes ago..... I guess he was freed from the control.....?" Syaoran spared the lion looking beast a glance. 

"Probably.... That sounds reasonable...." 

"Well......" Eriol took in a breath. "That was easy." 

Yue felt like smacking him then and there. 

~**~ 

"What the hell!?" 

Three nurses ran to meet the devastated group at the hospital door and two doctors came as well, all asking what had happened to them. Each of the Card capting group explained how they were drawn into an ally way and beaten by some gang members with knifes. Needless to say, all were rushed to ER. 

~**~ 

"Touya and Yukito don't remember anything?" Sakura asks, laying down on her bed. Tehy hadn't been held overnight like they thought. It was one A.M. now. 

"Not a thing." Kero confirmed, floating around. Syaoran had healed him as well after he rested at the hospital that night. "Each thought that they were attacked by some gang members." 

"And how did Touya get possessed in the first place?" 

"Probably picked it up while cleaning the basement....Your brother has powers to see things that others can't.... He maybe sensed the card and provoked it into attacking him....." 

"I see...." 

A knock at her window made Sakura's attention go to the other side of the room. With a small push, she slid open the diagonal window and let Syaoran slide in. He always did like to make an entrance. 

"Oi, Sakura." 

"It's the brat." Kero greeted. 

"Kero-chan! Behave or no pudding for you!" 

"Gomen ne, Sakura-sama......." 

Syaoran chuckled lightly to himself before getting to business. "You watch the news?" 

"No, what happened?" 

"The blew the whole storm thing off as abnormal weather....go figure......but anyway, Tokyo Tower took quite a thrashing in the fight, they are saying Lightning struck it repeatedly, along with high winds!" 

"Hooeeeeeee? Wind can do that?" 

"No!" 

"Gomen..." 

Syaoran sighed and flopped down on her bed. "It's okay. It's kind of stupid anyway." The young boy closed his eyes and took in a nice long breath. "I'm so glad this is all over with.... I'm beat... and staying in the hospital for six hours didn't help much...." 

"Thanks for healing everybody more after you got some rest.... I know it must have been hard on you, since you can't heal yourself...?" 

"Not really..... just tiring. I think I'll skip school tomorrow and sleep all day." 

Sakura poked his ribs where he wasn't hurt. "That's not good." 

"Darn it, Sakura, I'm trying to rest here." His voice and the slight smile on his face showed clearly he was playing with her. 

"What did you say?" 

"Darn it, Sa-" 

"That's it!" Sakura smiled happily and clapped her hands in front of her. "You didn't cuss! You broke your habit!" 

Syaoran opened his eyes and looked at Sakura. "I did?" She nodded, giving him a large smile. "Well hot damn!" 

~Fin 

~~**~~ 

Gomen gomen gomen! It took so long to do this and it sucked really bad! I have been _trying_ to write this for so long, but nothing came to me..... Maybe I'll write an alternate ending later on to make this lame part better. Don't look for it in hte futer becasue I have several mosre ideas floating around in my head ^_^ .If this story touched your heart in any way then please review. And Speacial thanks to everyone who told me not to quit. 


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